The 10 Worst Detroit Suburbs For 2023


We used data and Friday Night Science to identify the worst suburbs of Detroit for 2023. The worst Detroit suburbs are River Rouge and Pontiac.

The suburbs of Detroit call to all types of people looking to escape city live. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Detroit to avoid all the hustle and bustle.

So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Detroit ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Detroit area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Detroit proper, although Grosse Pointe certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Detroit are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..

We examined the 75 biggest suburbs of Detroit to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Michigan lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Detroit in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Detroit for 2023:

  1. River Rouge
  2. Pontiac
  3. Highland Park
  4. Ecorse
  5. Melvindale
  6. Inkster
  7. Hamtramck
  8. Wayne
  9. New Haven
  10. Romulus

What’s the worst suburb of Detroit? River Rouge ranks as the worst suburb of Detroit for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Detroit that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.

Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Michigan check out the best places in Michigan overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around Detroit too.



For more Michigan reading, check out:

The 10 Worst Detroit Suburbs To Live For 2023

River Rouge, MI

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 7,257
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $24,023 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 18.3% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $34,000 (lowest)
More on River Rouge:  Data | Photos

We’ll get the ball rolling with River Rouge, the absolute worst place to live around Detroit according to the data.

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

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.

Pontiac, MI

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 61,498
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)
Median Income: $36,214 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.6% (9th highest)
Median Home Value: $78,900 (5th lowest)
More on Pontiac:  Data | Photos

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

This city is 20.7 miles to Detroit. Income levels here are the 5th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $36,214 a year, which doesn’t go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.

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

Highland Park, MI

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 9,304
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $25,189 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 20.2% (highest)
Median Home Value: $51,000 (3rd lowest)
More on Highland Park:  Data | Photos

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Detroit suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Highland Park 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 drop out rate is poor compared to other Detroit suburbs.

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

Ecorse, MI

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 9,328
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $36,912 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.4% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $50,400 (2nd lowest)
More on Ecorse:  Data | Photos

If you live in Ecorse, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 7th lowest Detroit suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 5th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Detroit. Remember, we looked at 75 cities for this study.

Ecorse is about 9.4 miles to downtown.

Melvindale, MI

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 12,534
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Median Income: $36,700 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.5% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $82,500 (7th lowest)
More on Melvindale:  Data | Photos

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

All snarkiness aside, Melvindale has the 7th lowest home values in the metro Detroit area, where the median price is $82,500. To put that into perspective, in Grosse Pointe, the median income is $188,828, which is the best in the area.

Melvindale has an unemployment rate of 12.48% which ranks 4th worst.

Inkster, MI

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 25,849
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $34,122 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.3% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $59,900 (4th lowest)
More on Inkster:  Data | Photos

Inkster has 25,849 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 37.75494317297213%.

Hamtramck, MI

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 27,548
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Income: $33,570 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 13.3% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $81,100 (6th lowest)
More on Hamtramck:  Data | Photos

Ah, Hamtramck. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Detroit.

It’s the place with the 3rd most out of work residents in the Detroit metro area (13.33%).

Wayne, MI

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 17,624
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Income: $47,621 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.2% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $108,900 (12th lowest)
More on Wayne:  Data | Photos

Wayne is a city about 16.3 miles from Detroit, but Detroit 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. Wayne has the 11th most uninsured people, 10th worst incomes, and has the 7th highest unemployment rate (11.17%) in the entire Detroit metro area.

Homes only cost $108,900 for a reason. That’s cheap for Detroit standards.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,035
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Income: $59,107 (29th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (32nd highest)
Median Home Value: $158,300 (29th lowest)
More on New Haven:  Data

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

About 5.24% of residents are out of work.

Romulus, MI

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 24,977
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 1)
Median Income: $64,712 (37th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.4% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $118,200 (17th lowest)
More on Romulus:  Data | Photos

Rounding out the ten worst Detroit suburbs to call home is Romulus.

Located 17.4 miles outside the city, Romuluss is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 10th highest unemployment rate (9.37%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Detroit for 2023

To figure out how bad a Detroit suburb is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2017-2021, this is the criteria we used:

  • High unemployment rate
  • Low median household incomes
  • Low population density (no things to do)
  • Low home values
  • A lot of high school drop outs
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Detroit.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 75 suburbs to evaluate around Detroit.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 75 in each category, where 1 was the “worst”.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index the “Worst Suburb near Detroit.” We’re lookin’ at you, River Rouge.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the worst of the worst. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from worst to best.

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Detroit.

Summary: The areas around Detroit where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Detroit with River Rouge casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Detroit aren’t all bad. Grosse Pointe takes the cake as the best place to live around Detroit.

  • Grosse Pointe
  • Huntington Woods
  • Grosse Pointe Park

For more Michigan reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Detroit Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 River Rouge 7,257 $24,023 $34,000
2 Pontiac 61,498 $36,214 $78,900
3 Highland Park 9,304 $25,189 $51,000
4 Ecorse 9,328 $36,912 $50,400
5 Melvindale 12,534 $36,700 $82,500
6 Inkster 25,849 $34,122 $59,900
7 Hamtramck 27,548 $33,570 $81,100
8 Wayne 17,624 $47,621 $108,900
9 New Haven 6,035 $59,107 $158,300
10 Romulus 24,977 $64,712 $118,200
11 Mount Clemens 15,735 $48,101 $128,700
12 Lincoln Park 39,741 $49,794 $91,400
13 Taylor 63,071 $55,358 $116,600
14 Warren 138,996 $55,153 $143,600
15 Eastpointe 34,148 $52,269 $93,800
16 Belleville 3,978 $51,602 $118,100
17 Roseville 47,692 $51,794 $107,300
18 Center Line 8,515 $47,391 $110,800
19 Dearborn Heights 62,334 $55,190 $134,800
20 Hazel Park 15,213 $50,871 $104,800
21 Ypsilanti 20,448 $40,256 $167,100
22 Carleton 2,603 $50,833 $129,900
23 Dearborn 107,985 $60,184 $162,900
24 Harper Woods 15,287 $53,555 $111,200
25 Westland 84,961 $55,640 $143,500
26 Flat Rock 10,439 $60,792 $159,000
27 Utica 5,188 $49,918 $173,600
28 Auburn Hills 24,202 $73,641 $184,100
29 Southfield 76,196 $60,006 $176,000
30 Oak Park 29,677 $58,700 $143,700
31 Madison Heights 28,719 $58,537 $149,500
32 Romeo 3,729 $53,845 $203,500
33 Sterling Heights 134,062 $70,211 $213,200
34 Walled Lake 7,263 $56,193 $162,800
35 Wyandotte 24,992 $58,869 $126,400
36 Fraser 14,703 $59,471 $162,600
37 Southgate 29,990 $60,152 $133,300
38 Riverview 12,465 $62,992 $166,100
39 Rockwood 3,218 $81,354 $160,600
40 Gibraltar 4,953 $75,998 $166,100
41 Woodhaven 12,889 $68,463 $184,400
42 Allen Park 28,431 $69,455 $142,300
43 St. Clair Shores 59,046 $65,747 $157,000
44 Trenton 18,489 $70,725 $164,300
45 Wixom 16,853 $72,579 $280,000
46 Livonia 95,294 $86,331 $219,400
47 Farmington Hills 83,749 $93,434 $280,100
48 Ferndale 19,414 $79,181 $192,100
49 Wolverine Lake 4,515 $78,594 $223,500
50 Keego Harbor 2,790 $63,095 $212,300
51 South Lyon 11,786 $79,345 $220,800
52 New Baltimore 12,147 $82,464 $245,400
53 Novi 65,369 $100,311 $336,000
54 Clawson 11,482 $76,575 $204,700
55 Troy 86,912 $107,550 $335,000
56 Rochester Hills 75,990 $106,398 $313,900
57 Rochester 13,048 $100,021 $393,700
58 Farmington 11,481 $84,558 $228,400
59 Lake Orion 2,920 $90,750 $281,500
60 Grosse Pointe Woods 16,353 $115,247 $274,000
61 Milford 6,511 $90,591 $308,700
62 Royal Oak 58,368 $87,316 $249,900
63 Plymouth 9,308 $96,250 $362,000
64 Northville 6,106 $132,568 $369,100
65 Franklin 2,790 $155,703 $612,900
66 Pleasant Ridge 2,610 $134,917 $368,400
67 Berkley 15,234 $96,993 $238,200
68 Bloomfield Hills 4,393 $188,828 $852,900
69 Birmingham 21,728 $137,907 $580,200
70 Grosse Pointe Farms 10,018 $146,667 $364,400
71 Village Of Grosse Pointe Shores 2,608 $147,391 $584,800
72 Beverly Hills 10,593 $148,101 $403,100
73 Grosse Pointe Park 11,529 $123,859 $380,900
74 Huntington Woods 6,382 $157,665 $386,100
75 Grosse Pointe 5,597 $125,909 $347,500

About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.