The 10 Worst Durham Suburbs

The 10 Worst Durham Suburbs To Live For 2024

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 worst in the Durham 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 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.

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

This city is 13.9 miles to Durham. Income levels here are the 8th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $68,604 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.

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

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

If you live in Haw River, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Durham suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 12th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Durham. Remember, we looked at 25 cities for this study.

Haw River is about 26.8 miles to downtown.

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

All snarkiness aside, Graham has the 6th lowest home values in the metro Durham area, where the median price is $259,204. The median income is $145,166.

Graham has an unemployment rate of 8.07% which ranks 2nd worst.

Franklinton has 2,477 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 15.018167137666532%.

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

It’s the place with the 25th most out of work residents in the Durham metro area (3.06%).

Creedmoor is a city about 16.0 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. Creedmoor has the 10th most uninsured people, 14th worst incomes, and has the 8th highest unemployment rate (5.5%) in the entire Durham metro area.

Homes only cost $343,602 for a reason. That’s cheap for Durham standards.

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

About 4.37% of residents are out of work.

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

Located 12.8 miles outside the city, Hillsboroughs is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 3rd highest unemployment rate (7.19%), and poverty is far above the area average.