These Are The 10 Worst Fontana Suburbs For 2018

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

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

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

We examined the 44 biggest suburbs of Fontana to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in California lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Fontana in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Fontana for 2018:

1. Perris (Photos)
2. San Bernardino (Photos)
3. Victorville (Photos)
4. Hesperia
5. Jurupa Valley
6. Colton (Photos)
7. Rialto (Photos)
8. Calimesa (Photos)
9. Pomona (Photos)
10. Highland (Photos)

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

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

And remember, there are some good places to live around Fontana 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 California reading, check out:

• 10 Best Places To Live In California
• 10 Cheapest Places To Live In California
• 10 Most Dangerous Cities In California

Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Fontana 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 Fontana.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 44 suburbs to evaluate around Fontana.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 44 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 Fontana.” We’re lookin’ at you, Perris.

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. Perris

Population: 73,718
Unemployment Rate: 14.2%
Median Home Price: $211,400
Median Income: $51,315
More on Perris: Data | Jobs

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

And in the world of worst rankings, Perris beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 8th worst in the Fontana area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 6th 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 Perris.

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. San Bernardino

Population: 214,581
Unemployment Rate: 14.1%
Median Home Price: $176,800
Median Income: $38,456
More on San Bernardino: Data | Jobs

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

This city is 9.9 miles to Fontana. Income levels here are the 1st lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $38,456 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. Victorville

Population: 121,320
Unemployment Rate: 15.5%
Median Home Price: $158,900
Median Income: $45,895
More on Victorville: Data | Jobs

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

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

4. Hesperia

Population: 92,664
Unemployment Rate: 13.6%
Median Home Price: $172,800
Median Income: $46,446
More on Hesperia: Data | Jobs

If you live in Hesperia, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Fontana suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 5th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Fontana. Remember, we looked at 44 cities for this study.

Hesperia is about 21.6 miles to downtown.

5. Jurupa Valley

Population: 100,737
Unemployment Rate: 12.7%
Median Home Price: $270,700
Median Income: $58,849
More on Jurupa Valley: Data | Jobs

Jurupa Valley has the distinction of being a Fontana suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Jurupa Valley has the 12th lowest home values in the metro Fontana area, where the median price is $270,700. To put that into perspective, in Yorba Linda, the median income is $131,386, which is the best in the area.

Jurupa Valley has an unemployment rate of 12.7% which ranks 7th worst.

6. Colton

Population: 53,856
Unemployment Rate: 9.8%
Median Home Price: $189,500
Median Income: $43,966
More on Colton: Data | Jobs

Colton has 53,856 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 20.5%.

7. Rialto

Population: 102,418
Unemployment Rate: 13.8%
Median Home Price: $236,100
Median Income: $52,347
More on Rialto: Data | Jobs

Ah, Rialto. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Fontana.

It’s the place with the 4th most out of work residents in the Fontana metro area (13.8%).

8. Calimesa

Population: 8,379
Unemployment Rate: 13.4%
Median Home Price: $168,700
Median Income: $46,070
More on Calimesa: Data | Jobs

Calimesa is a city about 24.8 miles from Fontana, but Fontana 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. Calimesa has the 22nd most uninsured people, 4th worst incomes, and has the 6th highest unemployment rate (13.4%) in the entire Fontana metro area.

Homes only cost $168,700 for a reason. That’s cheap for Fontana standards.

9. Pomona

Population: 151,807
Unemployment Rate: 11.0%
Median Home Price: $310,100
Median Income: $50,360
More on Pomona: Data | Jobs

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

About 11.0% of residents are out of work.

10. Highland

Population: 54,490
Unemployment Rate: 11.4%
Median Home Price: $269,000
Median Income: $53,504
More on Highland: Data | Jobs

Rounding out the ten worst Fontana suburbs to call home is Highland.

Located 17.0 miles outside the city, Highlands is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 9th highest unemployment rate (11.4%), and poverty is far above the area average.

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

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

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

For more California reading, check out:

• 10 Most Ghetto Cities In California
• These Are The 10 Richest Cities In California
• 10 Safest Places In California
• 10 Worst Places To Live In California

Detailed List Of The Worst Fontana Suburbs

Rank	City	Population	Unemployment Rate	Median Home Price	Median Income
1	Perris	73,718	14.2%	$211,400	$51,315
2	San Bernardino	214,581	14.1%	$176,800	$38,456
3	Victorville	121,320	15.5%	$158,900	$45,895
4	Hesperia	92,664	13.6%	$172,800	$46,446
5	Jurupa Valley	100,737	12.7%	$270,700	$58,849
6	Colton	53,856	9.8%	$189,500	$43,966
7	Rialto	102,418	13.8%	$236,100	$52,347
8	Calimesa	8,379	13.4%	$168,700	$46,070
9	Pomona	151,807	11.0%	$310,100	$50,360
10	Highland	54,490	11.4%	$269,000	$53,504
11	Moreno Valley	202,061	12.3%	$231,400	$56,456
12	Ontario	169,389	9.3%	$293,000	$54,896
13	Montclair	38,294	9.3%	$281,100	$50,374
14	Riverside	318,678	11.0%	$286,600	$58,979
15	Yucaipa	52,886	9.2%	$241,700	$55,700
16	Baldwin Park	76,511	8.8%	$333,500	$53,651
17	La Puente	40,384	8.1%	$343,000	$57,174
18	Duarte	21,792	10.4%	$385,600	$65,571
19	Loma Linda	23,859	6.8%	$291,600	$51,390
20	Chino	83,670	9.0%	$365,500	$72,832
21	Azusa	48,498	8.1%	$342,000	$56,569
22	Anaheim	346,776	8.1%	$457,600	$61,826
23	Grand Terrace	12,393	9.6%	$249,700	$64,188
24	Redlands	70,442	7.1%	$326,800	$66,514
25	West Covina	107,634	9.9%	$430,800	$71,217
26	Corona	161,614	7.8%	$378,500	$72,309
27	Covina	48,539	9.7%	$415,300	$65,451
28	Norco	26,809	8.5%	$445,700	$87,067
29	Glendora	51,285	10.1%	$481,800	$78,448
30	Upland	75,851	5.9%	$444,200	$62,369
31	Rancho Cucamonga	173,309	8.9%	$414,200	$79,973
32	San Dimas	34,109	7.0%	$481,000	$79,081
33	Eastvale	58,217	9.6%	$460,100	$104,940
34	Placentia	52,168	6.8%	$554,500	$80,668
35	Chino Hills	77,266	7.0%	$537,800	$97,222
36	La Verne	32,078	7.0%	$500,300	$78,385
37	Claremont	35,827	6.8%	$581,100	$94,005
38	Diamond Bar	56,456	7.3%	$593,100	$89,845
39	Brea	41,351	6.4%	$579,600	$85,555
40	Walnut	30,026	6.6%	$679,700	$97,345
41	La Habra Heights	5,406	4.9%	$893,200	$110,329
42	Villa Park	5,922	8.7%	$1,030,800	$131,386
43	El Cerrito	24,646	6.6%	$636,600	$92,670
44	Yorba Linda	67,362	6.5%	$728,300	$119,697