The 10 Worst Long Beach Suburbs For 2022


We used science and data to determine which Long Beach suburbs are the real pits.

Sam Sparkes, RoadSnacks
April 8, 2022 - 2,368 views
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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 Long Beach.

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 Long Beach 'burbs need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the Long Beach area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the suburbs to live up to Long Beach proper, although Hermosa Beach certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Long Beach are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..

We examined the 97 biggest suburbs of Long 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 Long Beach in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Long Beach for 2022:

  1. Huntington Park
  2. Cudahy
  3. Compton
  4. Commerce
  5. Lynwood
  6. Bell Gardens
  7. Bell
  8. Maywood
  9. Pomona
  10. South Gate

What's the worst suburb of Long Beach? Huntington Park ranks as the worst suburb of Long Beach for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Long 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 Long Beach 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:

The 10 Worst Long Beach Suburbs To Live For 2022

1. Huntington Park

We'll get the ball rolling with Huntington Park, the absolute worst place to live around Long Beach according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Huntington Park beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 4th worst in the Long Beach area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 11th 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 Huntington Park.

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.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 57,761
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 2)
Median Income: $46,738 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.1% (highest)
Median Home Value: $426,700 (11th lowest)
More on Huntington Park:  Data | Photos

Huntington Park, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Jmiles92 | GFDL

2. Cudahy

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

This city is 10.8 miles to Long Beach. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $46,279 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.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 23,606
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 4)
Median Income: $46,279 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.7% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $422,700 (10th lowest)
More on Cudahy:  Data | Photos

Cudahy, CA

Source: Flickr User [email protected] | CC BY 2.0

3. Compton

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

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

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 95,804
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 2)
Median Income: $58,703 (16th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.1% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $383,500 (4th lowest)
More on Compton:  Data | Photos

Compton, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Epolk at English Wikipedi | GFDL

4. Commerce

If you live in Commerce, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 10th lowest Long Beach suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 40th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Long Beach. Remember, we looked at 97 cities for this study.

Commerce is about 12.8 miles to downtown.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 12,738
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 3)
Median Income: $54,639 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (40th highest)
Median Home Value: $429,800 (14th lowest)
More on Commerce:  Data | Photos

Commerce, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Justefrain | CC BY-SA 3.0

5. Lynwood

Lynwood has the distinction of being a Long Beach suburb. Which means that's about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Lynwood has the 9th lowest home values in the metro Long Beach area, where the median price is $422,200. To put that into perspective, in Hermosa Beach, the median income is $197,826, which is the best in the area.

Lynwood has an unemployment rate of 9.68% which ranks 2nd worst.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 69,625
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 5)
Median Income: $57,063 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.7% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $422,200 (9th lowest)
More on Lynwood:  Data | Photos

Lynwood, CA

Source: Public domain

6. Bell Gardens

Bell Gardens has 41,770 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 26.62392645457845%.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 41,770
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 3)
Median Income: $45,289 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.5% (28th highest)
Median Home Value: $402,600 (6th lowest)
More on Bell Gardens:  Data | Photos

Bell Gardens, CA

Source: Public domain

7. Bell

Ah, Bell. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Long Beach.

It's the place with the 7th most out of work residents in the Long Beach metro area (7.63%).

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 35,301
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 1)
Median Income: $47,740 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.6% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $436,400 (16th lowest)
More on Bell:  Data | Photos

Bell, CA

Source: Public domain

8. Maywood

Maywood is a city about 12.5 miles from Long Beach, but Long 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. Maywood has the 5th most uninsured people, 6th worst incomes, and has the 22nd highest unemployment rate (6.81%) in the entire Long Beach metro area.

Homes only cost $427,300 for a reason. That's cheap for Long Beach standards.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 27,127
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 4)
Median Income: $50,996 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.8% (22nd highest)
Median Home Value: $427,300 (12th lowest)
More on Maywood:  Data | Photos

Maywood, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Justefrain | CC BY-SA 3.0

9. Pomona

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

About 6.29% of residents are out of work.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 151,124
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 2)
Median Income: $62,407 (19th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.3% (33rd highest)
Median Home Value: $420,600 (8th lowest)
More on Pomona:  Data | Photos

Pomona, CA

Source: Public domain

10. South Gate

Rounding out the ten worst Long Beach suburbs to call home is South Gate.

Located 9.6 miles outside the city, South Gates is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 4th highest unemployment rate (8.83%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 94,905
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 1)
Median Income: $55,084 (11th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.8% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $438,100 (18th lowest)
More on South Gate:  Data | Photos

South Gate, CA

Source: Public domain

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Long Beach for 2022

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 from 2016-2020, 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 Long Beach.

Worst Places To Live In California

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 97 suburbs to evaluate around Long Beach.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 97 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 Long Beach." We're lookin' at you, Huntington Park. You can download the data here.

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.

Summary: The areas around Long Beach where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2022

Well there you have it -- the worst of the 'burbs surrounding Long Beach with Huntington Park casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Long Beach aren't all bad. Hermosa Beach takes the cake as the best place to live around Long Beach.

  • Hermosa Beach
  • Manhattan Beach
  • Redondo Beach

For more California reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Long Beach Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Huntington Park 57,761 $46,738 $426,700
2 Cudahy 23,606 $46,279 $422,700
3 Compton 95,804 $58,703 $383,500
4 Commerce 12,738 $54,639 $429,800
5 Lynwood 69,625 $57,063 $422,200
6 Bell Gardens 41,770 $45,289 $402,600
7 Bell 35,301 $47,740 $436,400
8 Maywood 27,127 $50,996 $427,300
9 Pomona 151,124 $62,407 $420,600
10 South Gate 94,905 $55,084 $438,100
11 South El Monte 20,791 $54,208 $452,700
12 Paramount 53,949 $57,313 $388,300
13 El Monte 113,917 $53,874 $480,100
14 Azusa 49,584 $65,912 $438,700
15 Montebello 62,697 $62,781 $519,000
16 Stanton 38,317 $66,017 $432,600
17 Inglewood 109,309 $58,536 $555,000
18 La Puente 39,780 $66,132 $446,800
19 Bellflower 76,339 $63,848 $483,100
20 Los Angeles 3,973,278 $65,290 $670,700
21 Hawaiian Gardens 14,212 $61,422 $428,300
22 Hawthorne 85,410 $57,849 $602,100
23 Baldwin Park 75,659 $68,741 $436,800
24 Duarte 21,399 $82,620 $519,700
25 Lawndale 32,533 $65,923 $551,800
26 Santa Ana 332,610 $72,406 $525,900
27 Westminster 90,857 $67,142 $624,000
28 Anaheim 353,085 $76,723 $602,400
29 Carson 91,354 $86,040 $494,800
30 Santa Fe Springs 17,643 $69,922 $462,400
31 Glendale 199,357 $70,596 $821,500
32 Rosemead 53,850 $60,006 $576,000
33 Garden Grove 172,800 $73,611 $580,300
34 Covina 47,787 $77,913 $549,500
35 Gardena 59,401 $64,015 $519,000
36 Norwalk 104,524 $77,425 $461,000
37 La Habra 62,787 $83,532 $577,900
38 Pico Rivera 62,507 $70,620 $464,700
39 Fullerton 141,061 $85,471 $667,300
40 Monterey Park 60,597 $63,389 $641,700
41 Midway 3,132 $51,005 $162,900
42 Los Alamitos 11,521 $89,323 $772,300
43 Downey 111,263 $75,974 $582,500
44 Temple 4,709 $67,628 $123,800
45 Artesia 16,456 $74,375 $600,000
46 Signal Hill 11,430 $86,140 $528,300
47 Laguna Woods 16,056 $46,449 $309,400
48 Whittier 84,821 $76,026 $598,000
49 West Covina 105,808 $85,626 $578,800
50 San Gabriel 40,108 $70,892 $712,400
51 Pasadena 142,017 $85,129 $822,100
52 Monrovia 37,636 $81,990 $694,700
53 Burbank 103,411 $79,212 $790,300
54 Buena Park 82,228 $84,680 $608,800
55 Costa Mesa 112,958 $90,370 $807,000
56 Alhambra 84,509 $66,593 $630,200
57 Lomita 20,212 $76,090 $618,700
58 Orange 139,322 $96,605 $680,300
59 Glendora 51,087 $99,153 $637,500
60 Tustin 80,815 $88,386 $693,000
61 Seal Beach 24,268 $72,596 $417,700
62 San Dimas 33,812 $90,234 $604,600
63 Fountain Valley 56,118 $89,924 $777,200
64 Chino Hills 82,800 $104,661 $642,500
65 La Mirada 48,260 $92,493 $606,200
66 Irvine 272,694 $108,318 $861,700
67 West Hollywood 35,506 $71,692 $743,700
68 Lakewood 79,676 $96,487 $595,200
69 Lake Forest 84,666 $112,988 $682,700
70 Placentia 52,049 $100,707 $653,400
71 Beverly Hills 33,709 $101,241 $2,000,001
72 Brea 44,182 $100,969 $687,700
73 Huntington Beach 199,778 $97,469 $803,400
74 Arcadia 57,053 $95,736 $1,136,700
75 Diamond Bar 55,870 $100,723 $690,500
76 Walnut 29,764 $108,264 $806,900
77 Santa Monica 91,600 $98,300 $1,452,100
78 Laguna Beach 22,991 $128,099 $1,874,400
79 Torrance 144,430 $94,781 $796,800
80 Cypress 49,137 $102,005 $665,100
81 Cerritos 49,388 $109,229 $716,000
82 El Segundo 16,575 $115,846 $1,180,000
83 La Habra Heights 5,318 $163,750 $916,500
84 Sierra Madre 10,829 $106,719 $1,007,800
85 Aliso Viejo 50,385 $118,540 $656,600
86 Rolling Hills Estates 8,025 $149,632 $1,362,900
87 Villa Park 5,883 $164,476 $1,238,800
88 La Palma 15,657 $108,363 $686,800
89 San Marino 13,020 $164,423 $2,000,001
90 South Pasadena 25,478 $109,927 $1,113,100
91 Yorba Linda 68,103 $133,088 $862,900
92 Rancho Palos Verdes 41,635 $146,163 $1,209,200
93 Newport Beach 86,694 $133,849 $1,976,400
94 Palos Verdes Estates 13,359 $197,826 $1,935,900
95 Redondo Beach 66,663 $116,832 $974,200
96 Manhattan Beach 35,064 $153,926 $2,000,001
97 Hermosa Beach 19,147 $142,500 $1,649,900
Download The Entire Long Beach Worst Suburbs Ranking Data

How Is Your Town In ?

Editor's Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don't freak out we updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the worst suburbs around Long Beach.
 Worst