The 10 Worst Arlington Suburbs


The worst Arlington suburbs are Wilmer and Hutchins based on Saturday Night Science. Find out where your town ranks.

More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Arlington to avoid all the hustle and bustle.

So the question arises: what suburbs of Arlington are the worst?

Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Arlington ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Arlington area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Arlington proper, although Southlake certainly tries.

We examined the 70 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 Texas lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Arlington in terms of quality of life.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 worst suburbs around Arlington for 2024

  1. Wilmer
  2. Hutchins
  3. Pelican Bay
  4. Balch Springs
  5. Everman
  6. Sansom Park
  7. Keene
  8. Forest Hill
  9. Cockrell Hill
  10. Lancaster

Now don’t freak out.

What’s the worst suburb of Arlington? Wilmer ranks as the worst suburb of Arlington for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

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

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

The 10 Worst Arlington Suburbs To Live For 2024

Wilmer, TX

Source: Wikipedia User nthomas76207 | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,370
Median Income: $63,003 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.3% (16th highest)
Median Home Value: $181,973 (2nd lowest)
More on Wilmer: Data | Crime

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

And in the world of worst rankings, Wilmer beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 12th worst in the Arlington 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 Wilmer.

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.

Hutchins, TX

Source: Wikipedia User nthomas76207 | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,633
Median Income: $39,929 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (39th highest)
Median Home Value: $242,690 (12th lowest)
More on Hutchins: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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

This city is 24.4 miles to Arlington. Income levels here are the lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $39,929 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.

3. Pelican Bay

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 2,172
Median Income: $49,657 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.2% (highest)
Median Home Value: $146,453 (lowest)
More on Pelican Bay: Crime

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

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

Balch Springs, TX

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 27,322
Median Income: $58,680 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.6% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $231,297 (10th lowest)
More on Balch Springs: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

If you live in Balch Springs, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 8th lowest Arlington suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 4th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Arlington. Remember, we looked at 70 cities for this study.

Balch Springs is about 29.4 miles to downtown.

Everman, TX

Source: Wikipedia User nthomas76207 | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 6,102
Median Income: $56,420 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.9% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $219,439 (7th lowest)
More on Everman: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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

All snarkiness aside, Everman has the 7th lowest home values in the metro Arlington area, where the median price is $219,439. The median income is $250,001.

Everman has an unemployment rate of 9.95% which ranks 2nd worst.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,387
Median Income: $54,909 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.4% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $187,670 (3rd lowest)
More on Sansom Park: Data | Cost Of Living

Sansom Park has 5,387 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 24.938458625260374%.

Keene, TX

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,451
Median Income: $53,701 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.5% (28th highest)
Median Home Value: $249,211 (14th lowest)
More on Keene: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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

It’s the place with the 28th most out of work residents in the Arlington metro area (4.47%).

Forest Hill, TX

Source: Wikipedia User nthomas76207 | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 13,810
Median Income: $58,713 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.6% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $226,512 (9th lowest)
More on Forest Hill: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Forest Hill is a city about 8.7 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. Forest Hill has the 2most uninsured people, 9th worst incomes, and has the 11th highest unemployment rate (7.58%) in the entire Arlington metro area.

Homes only cost $226,512 for a reason. That’s cheap for Arlington standards.

9. Cockrell Hill

Cockrell Hill, TX

Source: Wikipedia User | CC-BY-SA-3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 3,799
Median Income: $49,810 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.8% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $217,279 (5th lowest)
More on Cockrell Hill: Crime

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

About 8.79% of residents are out of work.

Lancaster, TX

Source: Wikipedia User Baroness of Ballymote at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 40,958
Median Income: $65,323 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.9% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $278,981 (18th lowest)
More on Lancaster: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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

Located 21.7 miles outside the city, Lancasters is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 14th highest unemployment rate (6.87%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Arlington for 2024

To figure out how bad a Arlington suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.

Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2018-2022, 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 dropouts
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Arlington.

We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 70 suburbs to evaluate around Arlington.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 70 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 looking at you, Wilmer.

We updated this article for 2024, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Arlington.

Summary: The areas around Arlington where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2024

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

The worst suburbs of Arlington are .

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

  • Southlake
  • University Park
  • Coppell

For more Texas reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Arlington Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Wilmer 5,370 $63,003 $181,973
2 Hutchins 5,633 $39,929 $242,690
3 Pelican Bay 2,172 $49,657 $146,453
4 Balch Springs 27,322 $58,680 $231,297
5 Everman 6,102 $56,420 $219,439
6 Sansom Park 5,387 $54,909 $187,670
7 Keene 6,451 $53,701 $249,211
8 Forest Hill 13,810 $58,713 $226,512
9 Cockrell Hill 3,799 $49,810 $217,279
10 Lancaster 40,958 $65,323 $278,981
11 Lake Worth 4,701 $82,114 $234,759
12 Ferris 2,785 $62,036 $267,485
13 Dallas 1,300,642 $63,985 $306,310
14 Fort Worth 924,663 $72,726 $303,501
15 Cleburne 31,849 $60,929 $252,726
16 Duncanville 40,288 $66,601 $280,157
17 White Settlement 18,106 $52,999 $222,225
18 Venus 5,211 $94,612 $291,561
19 Grand Prairie 197,279 $76,626 $317,988
20 Joshua 8,004 $66,183 $322,941
21 Cedar Hill 48,733 $84,132 $315,422
22 River Oaks 7,586 $66,754 $216,467
23 Blue Mound 2,622 $68,500 $218,334
24 Irving 254,962 $76,686 $337,139
25 Glenn Heights 16,445 $87,686 $330,758
26 Alvarado 5,107 $86,083 $247,729
27 Richland Hills 8,513 $73,601 $275,336
28 Waxahachie 41,801 $80,044 $351,165
29 Watauga 23,509 $88,775 $279,226
30 Desoto 55,882 $81,736 $323,250
31 Azle 13,409 $83,081 $329,100
32 Crowley 18,392 $88,333 $297,857
33 Benbrook 24,366 $80,971 $308,272
34 Kennedale 8,590 $112,646 $385,086
35 Farmers Branch 35,985 $88,282 $372,175
36 Euless 60,360 $77,403 $347,693
37 Hurst 40,053 $71,275 $328,991
38 Lewisville 125,028 $82,006 $395,721
39 Northlake 6,202 $105,962 $511,249
40 Burleson 48,970 $87,312 $317,969
41 Pantego 2,529 $84,125 $355,589
42 Addison 17,026 $78,153 $462,821
43 Red Oak 14,853 $105,309 $339,153
44 Ovilla 4,077 $109,130 $468,881
45 Carrollton 132,284 $95,380 $410,598
46 Roanoke 9,565 $113,171 $429,441
47 Bedford 49,455 $80,924 $366,367
48 Saginaw 24,106 $99,752 $310,280
49 Grapevine 50,763 $107,165 $517,910
50 North Richland Hills 70,114 $88,656 $360,470
51 Justin 4,731 $89,932 $365,745
52 Midlothian 35,460 $119,323 $443,526
53 The Colony 44,323 $106,518 $403,361
54 Mansfield 73,680 $112,465 $423,311
55 Dalworthington Gardens 2,437 $108,750 $515,114
56 Hickory Creek 4,906 $138,584 $489,358
57 Copper Canyon 2,125 $135,938 $890,304
58 Flower Mound 76,630 $154,471 $582,405
59 Haslet 2,336 $160,481 $407,337
60 Aledo 5,053 $123,045 $497,638
61 Argyle 4,638 $205,246 $653,803
62 Double Oak 3,039 $187,115 $769,545
63 Trophy Club 13,251 $183,125 $662,834
64 Keller 45,320 $162,094 $603,388
65 Colleyville 25,876 $196,298 $825,914
66 Highland Park 8,840 $249,923 $2,475,526
67 Highland 19,267 $166,429 $877,307
68 Coppell 42,513 $143,817 $591,824
69 University Park 25,179 $250,001 $2,037,260
70 Southlake 30,779 $250,001 $1,122,373
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.

One thought on “The 10 Worst Arlington Suburbs

  1. This article is basically saying that Arlington has suburbs. Arlington doesn’t have Suburbs, because Arlington is a Suburb of Washington, DC. Arlington is right next to Washington, DC (obviously), and it’s a part of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. There is no such thing as the Arlington Metropolitan Area. Although Arlington is more urban than a lot of DC’s other suburbs.

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