The suburbs of Huntington Beach call to all types of people looking to escape city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Huntington Beach to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
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 Saturday Night Science to determine which Huntington Beach ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Huntington Beach area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Huntington Beach proper, although Hermosa Beach certainly tries.
Of course, not all suburbs of Huntington Beach are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones.
We examined the 91 biggest suburbs of Huntington Beach 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 Huntington Beach in terms of quality of life.
The 10 worst suburbs around Huntington Beach for 2023
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Huntington Beach? Commerce ranks as the worst suburb of Huntington Beach for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Huntington Beach 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 Huntington Beach too.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In California
- Cheapest Places To Live In California
- Most Dangerous Cities In California
The 10 Worst Huntington Beach Suburbs To Live For 2023
/10
Population: 12,459
Median Income: $58,226 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.5% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $455,700 (15th lowest)
More on Commerce:
We’ll get the ball rolling with Commerce, the absolute worst place to live around Huntington Beach according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Commerce beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 9th worst in the Huntington Beach area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 15th 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 Commerce.
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.
/10
Population: 23,003
Median Income: $47,050 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.6% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $434,200 (7th lowest)
More on Cudahy:
Welcome to Cudahy. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 21.3 miles to Huntington Beach. Income levels here are the lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $47,050 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.
/10
Population: 55,439
Median Income: $51,065 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.0% (highest)
Median Home Value: $452,300 (13th lowest)
More on Huntington Park:
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Huntington Beach suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Huntington Park 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 Huntington Beach suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
/10
Population: 96,083
Median Income: $62,297 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.2% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $423,000 (5th lowest)
More on Compton:
If you live in Compton, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 14th lowest Huntington Beach suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 6th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Huntington Beach. Remember, we looked at 91 cities for this study.
Compton is about 18.8 miles to downtown.
/10
Population: 67,497
Median Income: $61,612 (13th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.5% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $449,300 (10th lowest)
More on Lynwood:
Lynwood has the distinction of being a Huntington Beach suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Lynwood has the 10th lowest home values in the metro Huntington Beach area, where the median price is $449,300. The median income is $202,569.
Lynwood has an unemployment rate of 9.55% which ranks 2nd worst.
/10
Population: 39,870
Median Income: $50,311 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (37th highest)
Median Home Value: $423,700 (6th lowest)
More on Bell Gardens:
Bell Gardens has 39,870 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 25.60545735805037%.
/10
Population: 33,915
Median Income: $51,183 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.6% (28th highest)
Median Home Value: $450,900 (11th lowest)
More on Bell:
Ah, Bell. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Huntington Beach.
It’s the place with the 28th most out of work residents in the Huntington Beach metro area (6.58%).
/10
Population: 93,308
Median Income: $59,647 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.6% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $470,200 (18th lowest)
More on South Gate:
South Gate is a city about 20.4 miles from Huntington Beach, but Huntington Beach 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. South Gate has the 7th most uninsured people, 10th worst incomes, and has the 4th highest unemployment rate (8.65%) in the entire Huntington Beach metro area.
Homes only cost $470,200 for a reason. That’s cheap for Huntington Beach standards.
/10
Population: 151,592
Median Income: $67,549 (20th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.6% (29th highest)
Median Home Value: $446,300 (9th lowest)
More on Pomona:
If you absolutely have to live near Huntington Beach, then Pomona might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Huntington Beach suburb.
About 6.57% of residents are out of work.
/10
Population: 19,860
Median Income: $60,244 (11th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (45th highest)
Median Home Value: $478,800 (19th lowest)
More on South El Monte:
Rounding out the ten worst Huntington Beach suburbs to call home is South El Monte.
Located 24.9 miles outside the city, South El Montes is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 45th highest unemployment rate (5.61%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Huntington Beach for 2023
To figure out how bad a Huntington Beach suburb is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
It’s Saturday Night Science.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2017-2021, 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 dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Huntington Beach.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 91 suburbs to evaluate around Huntington Beach.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 91 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 Huntington Beach.” We’re looking at you, Commerce.
We updated this article for 2023, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Huntington Beach.
Summary: The areas around Huntington Beach where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Huntington Beach with Commerce casting itself ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Huntington Beach aren’t all bad. Hermosa Beach takes the cake as the best place to live around Huntington Beach.
- Hermosa Beach
- Manhattan Beach
- Palos Verdes Estates
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In California
- Richest Cities In California
- Safest Places In California
- Worst Places To Live In California
Detailed List Of The Worst Huntington Beach Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commerce | 12,459 |
| 2 | Cudahy | 23,003 |
| 3 | Huntington Park | 55,439 |
| 4 | Compton | 96,083 |
| 5 | Lynwood | 67,497 |
| 6 | Bell Gardens | 39,870 |
| 7 | Bell | 33,915 |
| 8 | South Gate | 93,308 |
| 9 | Pomona | 151,592 |
| 10 | South El Monte | 19,860 |
| 11 | El Monte | 110,144 |
| 12 | Maywood | 25,477 |
| 13 | Hawaiian Gardens | 14,178 |
| 14 | Stanton | 38,167 |
| 15 | Paramount | 53,904 |
| 16 | Inglewood | 108,206 |
| 17 | Montebello | 62,828 |
| 18 | Baldwin Park | 72,813 |
| 19 | La Puente | 38,447 |
| 20 | Bellflower | 79,070 |
| 21 | Westminster | 91,267 |
| 22 | Hawthorne | 87,863 |
| 23 | Long Beach | 466,565 |
| 24 | Lawndale | 32,035 |
| 25 | Santa Ana | 313,818 |
| 26 | Santa Fe Springs | 18,817 |
| 27 | Midway | 3,402 |
| 28 | Anaheim | 348,204 |
| 29 | Garden Grove | 172,708 |
| 30 | Chino | 90,279 |
| 31 | Rosemead | 51,698 |
| 32 | Carson | 95,104 |
| 33 | Pico Rivera | 62,383 |
| 34 | Laguna Woods | 17,546 |
| 35 | Gardena | 60,917 |
| 36 | La Habra | 63,287 |
| 37 | Los Alamitos | 11,780 |
| 38 | Covina | 51,061 |
| 39 | Monterey Park | 61,153 |
| 40 | Artesia | 16,390 |
| 41 | Downey | 114,293 |
| 42 | Temple | 5,093 |
| 43 | Fullerton | 142,964 |
| 44 | Norwalk | 103,330 |
| 45 | Signal Hill | 11,780 |
| 46 | San Gabriel | 39,673 |
| 47 | West Covina | 109,396 |
| 48 | Corona | 157,844 |
| 49 | Whittier | 87,184 |
| 50 | Alhambra | 83,174 |
| 51 | Buena Park | 83,974 |
| 52 | Costa Mesa | 112,148 |
| 53 | Tustin | 79,895 |
| 54 | Chino Hills | 78,229 |
| 55 | Seal Beach | 25,216 |
| 56 | Orange | 139,195 |
| 57 | San Juan Capistrano | 35,319 |
| 58 | Lomita | 20,884 |
| 59 | Laguna Hills | 31,409 |
| 60 | Irvine | 297,868 |
| 61 | Brea | 46,912 |
| 62 | Lake Forest | 85,516 |
| 63 | Diamond Bar | 55,339 |
| 64 | Fountain Valley | 57,139 |
| 65 | La Mirada | 47,957 |
| 66 | Lakewood | 82,419 |
| 67 | Placentia | 51,951 |
| 68 | Walnut | 28,641 |
| 69 | Cypress | 50,279 |
| 70 | Torrance | 147,156 |
| 71 | Cerritos | 49,630 |
| 72 | Laguna Niguel | 64,608 |
| 73 | El Cerrito | 25,898 |
| 74 | Laguna Beach | 23,121 |
| 75 | Dana Point | 33,327 |
| 76 | El Segundo | 17,243 |
| 77 | Rolling Hills Estates | 8,305 |
| 78 | La Habra Heights | 5,651 |
| 79 | Mission Viejo | 93,932 |
| 80 | La Palma | 15,650 |
| 81 | Aliso Viejo | 51,943 |
| 82 | Rancho Santa Margarita | 48,190 |
| 83 | San Clemente | 64,600 |
| 84 | Yorba Linda | 68,319 |
| 85 | Villa Park | 5,864 |
| 86 | Rancho Palos Verdes | 42,316 |
| 87 | Newport Beach | 85,806 |
| 88 | Redondo Beach | 70,998 |
| 89 | Palos Verdes Estates | 13,403 |
| 90 | Manhattan Beach | 35,585 |
| 91 | Hermosa Beach | 19,787 |
