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Detroit's neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You've got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there's a neighborhood for everyone in Detroit.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the country thanks in part to a strong economy and tons of entertainment, it's not all rainbows and sunshine in Detroit. Some neighborhoods aren't as great as others.
So the question arises, which Detroit neighborhoods are the worst, and which are the best?
Today, we'll use science and data to determine which Detroit hoods need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the Detroit area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the neighborhoods to be amazing, although Indian Village ranks way above the rest.
We examined 85 of Detroit's neighborhoods to find out the worst places to live. These places don't quite measure up to Detroit's reputation.
The Worst Neighborhoods In Detroit For 2021
So what's the worst neighborhood to live in Detroit for 2021? According to the most recent census data, Chaldean Town looks to be the worst neighborhood in Detroit.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Detroit that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don't blame the messenger.
Once you're done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of every neighborhood we looked at from worst to best. Looking for places to avoid outside of the city? You can also check out the worst suburbs of Detroit.
For more Michigan reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Michigan
- Cheapest Places To Live In Michigan
- Most Dangerous Places in Michigan
The 10 Worst Neighborhoods In Detroit For 2021
/10
Population: 639
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Home Value: $5,200 (worst)
Median Income: $16,172 (5th worst)
More on Chaldean Town: Data
Chaldean Town is an historic Chaldean neighborhood in Detroit located along West Seven Mile Road in a segment in between Woodward Avenue to the west and John R St. to the east. Circa 2007 the population of the district was mainly low income elderly people and recent immigrants, who were mostly made up of Chaldeans. The neighborhood was usually just a stop point for newly arrived immigrants, who then typically preferred to move to the suburbs of Detroit once they gain financial well-being.
/10
Population: 1,044
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Home Value: $14,000 (4th worst)
Median Income: $14,872 (3rd worst)
More on Forest Park: Data
Forest Park houses the St Albertus Roman Catholic Church and the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. It is a highly desirable neighborhood valued for the fact that demolition of blighted properties, beginning in 2008, started here first. As such, many tracts of land remain sparsely populated with a low density of residents.
/10
Population: 508
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $13,280 (3rd worst)
Median Income: $16,286 (6th worst)
More on Poletown East: Data
Poletown East is a neighborhood area of Detroit, Michigan bordering the enclave city of Hamtramck. The area was named after the Polish immigrants who originally lived in the area. A portion of residential area known as Poletown became the General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant in 1981 with those residents relocated by General Motors and the cities of Detroit and Hamtramck which claimed eminent domain in order to make way for a new automobile plant.
/10
Population: 743
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $10,300 (2nd worst)
Median Income: $22,039 (16th worst)
More on Milwaukee Junction: Data
/10
Population: 9,961
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 7)
Median Home Value: $21,585 (11th worst)
Median Income: $24,947 (24th worst)
More on Brightmoor: Data
Brightmoor is a roughly 4-square-mile neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, near the northwest border of the city. Brightmoor is defined by the Brightmoor Alliance as being bordered by Puritan Road to the north, the CSX railway to the south, Evergreen Road to the east, and Outer Drive West, Dacosta Street, and Telegraph Road to the west. However, the demographics given here for the neighborhood are the city's statistical Master Plan Neighborhood area, which consists of eight census tracts that includes some areas outside of the Alliance's boundaries, but does not include some areas within its boundaries.
/10
Population: 5,084
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 9)
Median Home Value: $17,800 (7th worst)
Median Income: $28,243 (38th worst)
More on Riverdale: Data
/10
Population: 1,080
Rank Last Year: 16 (Up 9)
Median Home Value: $30,900 (28th worst)
Median Income: $25,622 (28th worst)
More on Conant Gardens: Data
/10
Population: 615
Rank Last Year: 17 (Up 9)
Median Home Value: $27,300 (17th worst)
Median Income: $33,125 (58th worst)
More on Carbon Works: Data
/10
Population: 7,177
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 4)
Median Home Value: $23,667 (14th worst)
Median Income: $18,799 (10th worst)
More on Petosky-Otsego: Data
/10
Population: 2,965
Rank Last Year: 19 (Up 9)
Median Home Value: $29,700 (23rd worst)
Median Income: $27,084 (33rd worst)
More on Five Points: Data
How we determined the worst Detroit hoods in 2021
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 places have the least amount of those things. We threw the following criteria into this analysis in order to get the best, most complete results possible. We used this set of criteria for each neighborhood in Detroit:
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one's willing to pay to live here)
- High crime (Estimated)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criteria into a "Worst Score".
The neighborhood with the lowest "Worst Score" ranks as the worst neighborhood of Detroit.
Read on below to learn more about these terrible places around Detroit to live. Or skip to the end to see the list of all 85 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Hold on to your pants.
The 'hoods around Detroit that are really hoods
Well there you have it -- the worst of the neighborhoods in Detroit with Chaldean Town landing at the bottom of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Detroit aren't all bad. Indian Village takes the cake as the best place to live in Detroit.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below.
For more Michigan reading, check out:
Will you continue to update theses results as they change annually? I love this post! A lot of research and data went into this one. Thanks a lot!
Where’s boston edison and north end?
Chaldean Town is no 1 Poletown East is no 2 Petoskey otsingo is no 3 Carbon Works is no 4 NW Goldberg is no 5 Briggs is no6 Brightmoor is no 7 Oakwood Hts is no 8 State Fair Grounds is no 9 Ravendale is no 10
From the data
1. 7Mile & Gratiot
2.Chaldean Town
3.Petosky Otsigo
4.Poletown East
5.7Mile John R
6.Brightmoor
7.Forest Park
8.Dextar Linwood
9.Riverdale
10.McDougall Hunt
I’ve lived inside Detroit MI for 62 yrs and believe me Chaldean town is very quiet and safe as well as Poletown and please emphasize the first calculation is median income and property value and not crime….I’m in the College Park area and Love it here, The areas around major Colleges/Universities are safer with their own Patrols.
Where are West Outer Drive and Far West? These neighborhoods are west of Rouge Park and have some of the lowest crime in the city. We are consistently excluded with our 48239 zip code.