The 10 Worst Columbus Suburbs

The 10 Worst Columbus Suburbs To Live For 2024

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

And in the world of worst rankings, Circleville beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Columbus area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 3rd 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 Circleville.

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

This city is 5.4 miles to Columbus. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $47,879 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 Johnstown 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 London, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 7th lowest Columbus suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 10th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Columbus. Remember, we looked at 35 cities for this study.

London is about 24.8 miles to downtown.

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

All snarkiness aside, Obetz has the 7th lowest home values in the metro Columbus area, where the median price is $240,635. The median income is $224,824.

Obetz has an unemployment rate of 8.15% which ranks 3rd worst.

Lancaster has 40,616 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 15.442168214785594%.

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

It’s the place with the 5th most out of work residents in the Columbus metro area (6.45%).

Buckeye Lake is a city about 26.4 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. Buckeye Lake has the 2nd most uninsured people, 10th worst incomes, and has the 3highest unemployment rate (1.67%) in the entire Columbus metro area.

Homes only cost $217,693 for a reason. That’s cheap for Columbus standards.

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

About 1.4% of residents are out of work.

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

Located 18.5 miles outside the city, South Bloomfields is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 6th highest unemployment rate (6.25%), and poverty is far above the area average.