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 34 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
3. Bladensburg
4. Capitol Heights
5. Mount Rainier
6. New Carrollton
7. Greenbelt
8. Seat Pleasant
9. Forest Heights
10. Hyattsville

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.

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 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 34 suburbs to evaluate around Arlington.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 34 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
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 4th 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
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 6th 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
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. Capitol Heights

Population: 4,489
Unemployment Rate: 12.9%
Median Home Price: $189,000
Median Income: $67,863
If you live in Capitol Heights, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 12th lowest Arlington suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 2nd worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Arlington. Remember, we looked at 34 cities for this study.

Capitol Heights is about 10.4 to downtown.

5. Mount Rainier

Population: 8,364
Unemployment Rate: 7.8%
Median Home Price: $275,900
Median Income: $50,345
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 16th 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 9th worst.

6. New Carrollton

Population: 12,727
Unemployment Rate: 11.7%
Median Home Price: $232,000
Median Income: $60,645
New Carrollton has 12,727 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 9.9%.

7. Greenbelt

Population: 23,623
Unemployment Rate: 6.3%
Median Home Price: $190,500
Median Income: $67,162
Ah, Greenbelt. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Arlington.

It’s the place with the 19th most out of work residents in the L.A. metro area (6.3%).

8. Seat Pleasant

Population: 4,721
Unemployment Rate: 6.4%
Median Home Price: $175,000
Median Income: $51,930
Seat Pleasant is a city about 10.8 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. Seat Pleasant has the 21st most uninsured people, 3rd worst incomes, and has the 17th highest unemployment rate (6.4%) in the entire Arlington metro area.

Homes only cost $175,000 for a reason. That’s cheap for Arlington standards.

9. Forest Heights

Population: 2,549
Unemployment Rate: 14.1%
Median Home Price: $195,700
Median Income: $70,875
If you absolutely have to live near Arlington, then Forest Heights might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Arlington suburb.

About 14.1% of residents are out of work.

10. Hyattsville

Population: 18,262
Unemployment Rate: 6.5%
Median Home Price: $265,600
Median Income: $65,452
Rounding out the ten worst Arlington suburbs to call home is Hyattsville.

Located 9.8 miles outside the city, Hyattsvilles is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 16th highest unemployment rate (6.5%), 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:

• These Are The 10 Dumbest Cities In Virginia
• These Are The 10 Snobbiest Places In Virginia
• These Are The 10 Most Boring Places In Virginia

Detailed List Of The Worst Arlington Suburbs

City	Rank	Population	Unemployment Rate	Median Home Price	Median Income
Dumfries	1	5,180	9.5%	$166,600	$57,649
Riverdale Park	2	7,221	7.3%	$248,100	$61,520
Bladensburg	3	9,505	8.0%	$179,800	$44,236
Capitol Heights	4	4,489	12.9%	$189,000	$67,863
Mount Rainier	5	8,364	7.8%	$275,900	$50,345
New Carrollton	6	12,727	11.7%	$232,000	$60,645
Greenbelt	7	23,623	6.3%	$190,500	$67,162
Seat Pleasant	8	4,721	6.4%	$175,000	$51,930
Forest Heights	9	2,549	14.1%	$195,700	$70,875
Hyattsville	10	18,262	6.5%	$265,600	$65,452
Brentwood	11	3,144	4.0%	$238,700	$65,893
College Park	12	31,942	6.6%	$269,500	$64,694
Manassas	13	41,149	6.0%	$293,500	$74,371
Laurel	14	25,703	7.2%	$235,800	$68,304
Glenarden	15	6,110	7.9%	$242,800	$73,355
Manassas Park	16	15,827	4.6%	$257,800	$75,027
Indian Head	17	3,879	6.4%	$198,900	$66,314
Berwyn Heights	18	3,242	4.9%	$277,500	$98,125
Gaithersburg	19	66,104	7.1%	$369,900	$83,724
Cheverly	20	6,390	8.8%	$297,100	$96,325
Washington	21	659,009	8.7%	$506,100	$72,935
Herndon	22	24,415	5.8%	$401,700	$104,204
La Plata	23	9,059	3.4%	$320,600	$87,759
Takoma Park	24	17,567	7.7%	$508,600	$78,921
Fairfax	25	23,620	5.5%	$487,700	$104,065
Bowie	26	57,633	6.8%	$303,900	$106,098
Leesburg	27	49,401	4.0%	$387,100	$102,132
Alexandria	28	151,473	4.0%	$520,700	$89,200
Rockville	29	65,171	4.9%	$499,400	$101,774
University Park	30	2,635	4.4%	$437,300	$136,250
Poolesville	31	5,108	3.6%	$391,600	$150,000
Vienna	32	16,378	2.9%	$662,200	$143,276
Kensington	33	2,111	1.4%	$662,900	$132,750
Falls Church	34	13,597	5.3%	$724,000	$115,244