These Are The 10 Worst Durham Suburbs For 2018

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

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

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

We examined the 18 biggest suburbs of Durham to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in North Carolina lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Durham in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Durham for 2018:

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

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

And remember, there are some good places to live around Durham 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 North Carolina reading, check out:

Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Durham 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 Durham.

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Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 18 suburbs to evaluate around Durham.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 18 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 Durham.” We’re lookin’ at you, Roxboro.

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. Roxboro

Source: Wikipedia User FotoDawg | CC BY 2.0

Population: 8,329
Unemployment Rate: 23.9%
Median Home Price: $99,600
Median Income: $21,516
More on Roxboro: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

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

And in the world of worst rankings, Roxboro beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 1st worst in the Durham 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 Roxboro.

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. Graham

Source: Wikipedia User Dantripphoto | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 14,506
Unemployment Rate: 7.4%
Median Home Price: $128,600
Median Income: $32,020
More on Graham: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

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

This city is 27.7 miles to Durham. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $32,020 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. Butner

Source: Wikipedia User Ildar Sagdejev | GFDL

Population: 7,692
Unemployment Rate: 7.2%
Median Home Price: $127,200
Median Income: $46,642
More on Butner: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

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

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

4. Oxford

Source: Wikipedia User John Taylor | CC BY 2.0

Population: 8,707
Unemployment Rate: 13.6%
Median Home Price: $137,200
Median Income: $33,528
More on Oxford: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

If you live in Oxford, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 3rd lowest Durham 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 Durham. Remember, we looked at 18 cities for this study.

Oxford is about 29.4 miles to downtown.

5. Hillsborough

Source: Wikipedia User Alexisrael | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 6,428
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Median Home Price: $205,300
Median Income: $50,240
More on Hillsborough: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

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

All snarkiness aside, Hillsborough has the 8th lowest home values in the metro Durham area, where the median price is $205,300. To put that into perspective, in Cary, the median income is $98,041, which is the best in the area.

Hillsborough has an unemployment rate of 5.9% which ranks 10th worst.

6. Garner

Source: Wikipedia User Melizabethi123 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 27,625
Unemployment Rate: 6.3%
Median Home Price: $164,800
Median Income: $59,812
More on Garner: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

Garner has 27,625 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 10.8%.

7. Mebane

Source: Wikipedia User Adchampion91 | GFDL

Population: 13,592
Unemployment Rate: 6.7%
Median Home Price: $172,400
Median Income: $56,037
More on Mebane: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

Ah, Mebane. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Durham.

It’s the place with the 7th most out of work residents in the Durham metro area (6.7%).

8. Knightdale

Source: Wikipedia User Ildar Sagdejev | GFDL

Population: 13,787
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Median Home Price: $171,300
Median Income: $67,167
More on Knightdale: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

Knightdale is a city about 26.2 miles from Durham, but Durham 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. Knightdale has the 4th most uninsured people, 11th worst incomes, and has the 10th highest unemployment rate (5.9%) in the entire Durham metro area.

Homes only cost $171,300 for a reason. That’s cheap for Durham standards.

9. Fuquay-Varina

Source: Public domain

Population: 22,722
Unemployment Rate: 7.5%
Median Home Price: $208,100
Median Income: $70,226
More on Fuquay-Varina: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

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

About 7.5% of residents are out of work.

10. Raleigh

Source: Wikipedia User Atlpedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 441,326
Unemployment Rate: 6.1%
Median Home Price: $218,200
Median Income: $58,641
More on Raleigh: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs

Rounding out the ten worst Durham suburbs to call home is Raleigh.

Located 17.9 miles outside the city, Raleighs is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 9th highest unemployment rate (6.1%), and poverty is far above the area average.

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

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

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