The 10 Worst Columbus Suburbs

The 10 Worst Columbus Suburbs To Live For 2025

We’ll get the ball rolling with Whitehall, the absolute worst place to live around Columbus according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Whitehall beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the Columbus area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 2nd worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Whitehall.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Welcome to Circleville. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 26.6 miles to Columbus. Income levels here are the 4th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $56,225 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Columbus suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Obetz on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Columbus suburbs.

But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

If you live in Hebron, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Columbus suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 7th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Columbus. Remember, we looked at 36 cities for this study.

Hebron is about 26.4 miles to downtown.

London has the distinction of being a Columbus suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, London has the 9th lowest home values in the metro Columbus area, where the median price is $194,800. The median income is $232,524.

London has an unemployment rate of 5.4% which ranks 8th worst.

Johnstown has 18,245 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 31.24101316226081%.

Ah, Buckeye Lake. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Columbus.

It’s the place with the 18th most out of work residents in the Columbus metro area (2.83%).

Lancaster is a city about 26.9 miles from Columbus, but Columbus probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Lancaster has the 5th most uninsured people, 3rd worst incomes, and has the 10th highest unemployment rate (5.01%) in the entire Columbus metro area.

Homes only cost $180,200 for a reason. That’s cheap for Columbus standards.

If you absolutely have to live near Columbus, then South Bloomfield might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Columbus suburb.

About 6.47% of residents are out of work.

Rounding out the ten worst Columbus suburbs to call home is Baltimore.

Located 22.2 miles outside the city, Baltimores is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 11th highest unemployment rate (4.34%), and poverty is far above the area average.