These Are The 10 Worst Arlington Suburbs For 2018

Not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Arlington.

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 Arlington ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Arlington area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Arlington proper, although Falls Church certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Arlington are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado…

We examined the 26 biggest suburbs of Arlington to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Virginia lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Arlington in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Arlington for 2018:

1. Dumfries (Photos)
2. Riverdale Park (Photos)
3. Bladensburg (Photos)
4. New Carrollton (Photos)
5. Mount Rainier (Photos)
6. Greenbelt (Photos)
7. Hyattsville (Photos)
8. College Park (Photos)
9. Manassas (Photos)
10. Laurel (Photos)

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

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

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

Editor’s Note: If you see a slight difference between the worst in state rankings and this suburb ranking, it’s because of the methodology. We needed a way to include more places, so we eliminated crime and commute times as criteria for this analysis.

For more Virginia reading, check out:

• 10 Best Places To Live In Virginia
• 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Virginia
• 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Virginia

Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Arlington for 2018

To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities 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, 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 Arlington.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 26 suburbs to evaluate around Arlington.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 26 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 Arlington.” We’re lookin’ at you, Dumfries.

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.

1. Dumfries

Population: 5,180
Unemployment Rate: 9.5%
Median Home Price: $166,600
Median Income: $57,649
More on Dumfries: Data | Jobs

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

And in the world of worst rankings, Dumfries beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Arlington area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 1st 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 Dumfries.

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.

2. Riverdale Park

Population: 7,221
Unemployment Rate: 7.3%
Median Home Price: $248,100
Median Income: $61,520
More on Riverdale Park: Data | Jobs

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

This city is 11.1 miles to Arlington. Income levels here are the 5th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $61,520 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.

3. Bladensburg

Population: 9,505
Unemployment Rate: 8.0%
Median Home Price: $179,800
Median Income: $44,236
More on Bladensburg: Data | Jobs

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Arlington suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Bladensburg 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 Arlington suburbs.

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

4. New Carrollton

Population: 12,727
Unemployment Rate: 11.7%
Median Home Price: $232,000
Median Income: $60,645
More on New Carrollton: Data | Jobs

If you live in New Carrollton, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 4th lowest Arlington suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 1st worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Arlington. Remember, we looked at 26 cities for this study.

New Carrollton is about 13.5 miles to downtown.

5. Mount Rainier

Population: 8,364
Unemployment Rate: 7.8%
Median Home Price: $275,900
Median Income: $50,345
More on Mount Rainier: Data | Jobs

Mount Rainier has the distinction of being a Arlington suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Mount Rainier has the 11th lowest home values in the metro Arlington area, where the median price is $275,900. To put that into perspective, in Falls Church, the median income is $150,000, which is the best in the area.

Mount Rainier has an unemployment rate of 7.8% which ranks 7th worst.

6. Greenbelt

Population: 23,623
Unemployment Rate: 6.3%
Median Home Price: $190,500
Median Income: $67,162
More on Greenbelt: Data | Jobs

Greenbelt has 23,623 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 9.3%.

7. Hyattsville

Population: 18,262
Unemployment Rate: 6.5%
Median Home Price: $265,600
Median Income: $65,452
More on Hyattsville: Data | Jobs

Ah, Hyattsville. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Arlington.

It’s the place with the 14th most out of work residents in the Arlington metro area (6.5%).

8. College Park

Population: 31,942
Unemployment Rate: 6.6%
Median Home Price: $269,500
Median Income: $64,694
More on College Park: Data | Jobs

College Park is a city about 12.0 miles from Arlington, but Arlington 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. College Park has the 20th most uninsured people, 6th worst incomes, and has the 13th highest unemployment rate (6.6%) in the entire Arlington metro area.

Homes only cost $269,500 for a reason. That’s cheap for Arlington standards.

9. Manassas

Population: 41,149
Unemployment Rate: 6.0%
Median Home Price: $293,500
Median Income: $74,371
More on Manassas: Data | Jobs

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

About 6.0% of residents are out of work.

10. Laurel

Population: 25,703
Unemployment Rate: 7.2%
Median Home Price: $235,800
Median Income: $68,304
More on Laurel: Data | Jobs

Rounding out the ten worst Arlington suburbs to call home is Laurel.

Located 19.7 miles outside the city, Laurels is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 10th highest unemployment rate (7.2%), and poverty is far above the area average.

The areas around Arlington where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2018

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Arlington with Dumfries casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Arlington aren’t all bad. Falls Church takes the cake as the best place to live around Arlington.

For more Virginia reading, check out:

• 10 Most Ghetto Cities In Virginia
• These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Virginia
• 10 Safest Places In Virginia
• 10 Worst Cities In Virginia For 2017

Detailed List Of The Worst Arlington Suburbs

Rank	City	Population	Unemployment Rate	Median Home Price	Median Income
1	Dumfries	5,180	9.5%	$166,600	$57,649
2	Riverdale Park	7,221	7.3%	$248,100	$61,520
3	Bladensburg	9,505	8.0%	$179,800	$44,236
4	New Carrollton	12,727	11.7%	$232,000	$60,645
5	Mount Rainier	8,364	7.8%	$275,900	$50,345
6	Greenbelt	23,623	6.3%	$190,500	$67,162
7	Hyattsville	18,262	6.5%	$265,600	$65,452
8	College Park	31,942	6.6%	$269,500	$64,694
9	Manassas	41,149	6.0%	$293,500	$74,371
10	Laurel	25,703	7.2%	$235,800	$68,304
11	Glenarden	6,110	7.9%	$242,800	$73,355
12	Manassas Park	15,827	4.6%	$257,800	$75,027
13	Gaithersburg	66,104	7.1%	$369,900	$83,724
14	Cheverly	6,390	8.8%	$297,100	$96,325
15	Washington	659,009	8.7%	$506,100	$72,935
16	Herndon	24,415	5.8%	$401,700	$104,204
17	La Plata	9,059	3.4%	$320,600	$87,759
18	Takoma Park	17,567	7.7%	$508,600	$78,921
19	Bowie	57,633	6.8%	$303,900	$106,098
20	Fairfax	23,620	5.5%	$487,700	$104,065
21	Leesburg	49,401	4.0%	$387,100	$102,132
22	Alexandria	151,473	4.0%	$520,700	$89,200
23	Rockville	65,171	4.9%	$499,400	$101,774
24	Poolesville	5,108	3.6%	$391,600	$150,000
25	Vienna	16,378	2.9%	$662,200	$143,276
26	Falls Church	13,597	5.3%	$724,000	$115,244