The 10 Worst Phoenix Suburbs

The 10 Worst Phoenix Suburbs To Live For 2024

We’ll get the ball rolling with El Mirage, the absolute worst place to live around Phoenix according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, El Mirage beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 5th worst in the Phoenix 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 El Mirage.

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

This city is 16.0 miles to Phoenix. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $56,423 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 Phoenix suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Glendale 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 Phoenix suburbs.

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

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

Not only that, but this is the 18th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Phoenix. Remember, we looked at 20 cities for this study.

Tolleson is about 12.8 miles to downtown.

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

All snarkiness aside, Avondale has the 4th lowest home values in the metro Phoenix area, where the median price is $401,338. The median income is $221,333.

Avondale has an unemployment rate of 4.79% which ranks 8th worst.

Mesa has 503,390 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 11.17622990276307%.

Ah, Tempe. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Phoenix.

It’s the place with the 3rd most out of work residents in the Phoenix metro area (5.69%).

Cave Creek is a city about 19.3 miles from Phoenix, but Phoenix 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. Cave Creek has the most uninsured people, 10th worst incomes, and has the 12th highest unemployment rate (4.48%) in the entire Phoenix metro area.

Homes only cost $980,412 for a reason. That’s cheap for Phoenix standards.

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

About 5.48% of residents are out of work.

Rounding out the ten worst Phoenix suburbs to call home is Goodyear.

Located 28.8 miles outside the city, Goodyears is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 5th highest unemployment rate (5.48%), and poverty is far above the area average.