The 10 Worst Moreno Valley Suburbs For 2023


We used data and Friday Night Science to identify the worst suburbs of Moreno Valley for 2023. The worst Moreno Valley suburbs are Banning and San Jacinto.

The suburbs of Moreno Valley call to all types of people looking to escape city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Moreno Valley 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 Moreno Valley ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Moreno Valley area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Moreno Valley proper, although Eastvale certainly tries.

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

We examined the 34 biggest suburbs of Moreno Valley 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 Moreno Valley in terms of quality of life.

The 10 worst suburbs around Moreno Valley for 2023

  1. Banning
  2. San Jacinto
  3. San Bernardino
  4. Hemet
  5. Perris
  6. Rialto
  7. Lakeland
  8. Colton
  9. Montclair
  10. Jurupa Valley

Now don’t freak out.

What’s the worst suburb of Moreno Valley? Banning ranks as the worst suburb of Moreno Valley for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Moreno Valley 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 Moreno Valley too.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


For more California reading, check out:

The 10 Worst Moreno Valley Suburbs To Live For 2023

Banning, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 29,664
Median Income: $46,834 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.5% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $255,300 (3rd lowest)
More on Banning:

We’ll get the ball rolling with Banning, the absolute worst place to live around Moreno Valley according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Banning beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the Moreno Valley area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 3rd 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 Banning.

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.

San Jacinto, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Ymblanter | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 53,299
Median Income: $62,144 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.8% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $291,100 (5th lowest)
More on San Jacinto:

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

This city is 15.1 miles to Moreno Valley. Income levels here are the 6th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $62,144 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.

San Bernardino, CA

Source: Flickr User MOHSEN.WISE | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 220,821
Median Income: $55,372 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.4% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $293,000 (6th lowest)
More on San Bernardino:

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Moreno Valley suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see San Bernardino 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 Moreno Valley suburbs.

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

Hemet, CA

Source: Wikipedia User User:Jstroudr | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 88,903
Median Income: $46,194 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.6% (highest)
Median Home Value: $226,000 (2nd lowest)
More on Hemet:

If you live in Hemet, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the lowest Moreno Valley suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Moreno Valley. Remember, we looked at 34 cities for this study.

Hemet is about 17.8 miles to downtown.

Perris, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Ymblanter | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 78,106
Median Income: $70,910 (13th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.2% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $333,900 (8th lowest)
More on Perris:

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

All snarkiness aside, Perris has the 8th lowest home values in the metro Moreno Valley area, where the median price is $333,900. The median income is $141,827.

Perris has an unemployment rate of 7.17% which ranks 14th worst.

Rialto, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 103,799
Median Income: $69,934 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.1% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $350,000 (9th lowest)
More on Rialto:

Rialto has 103,799 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 14.618993157190767%.

7. Lakeland

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 110,401
Median Income: $52,972 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.0% (23rd highest)
Median Home Value: $171,700 (lowest)
More on Lakeland:

Ah, Lakeland. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Moreno Valley.

It’s the place with the 23rd most out of work residents in the Moreno Valley metro area (6.0%).

Colton, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Bruce Fingerhood from Springfield, Oregon, US | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 53,894
Median Income: $60,874 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.4% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $325,800 (7th lowest)
More on Colton:

Colton is a city about 11.4 miles from Moreno Valley, but Moreno Valley 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. Colton has the 17th most uninsured people, 5th worst incomes, and has the 8th highest unemployment rate (7.36%) in the entire Moreno Valley metro area.

Homes only cost $325,800 for a reason. That’s cheap for Moreno Valley standards.

Montclair, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Westpacificmovement | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 37,871
Median Income: $67,483 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.8% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $423,300 (2lowest)
More on Montclair:

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

About 7.76% of residents are out of work.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 104,684
Median Income: $83,430 (22nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.2% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $416,300 (18th lowest)
More on Jurupa Valley:

Rounding out the ten worst Moreno Valley suburbs to call home is Jurupa Valley.

Located 16.0 miles outside the city, Jurupa Valleys is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 13th highest unemployment rate (7.21%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Moreno Valley for 2023

To figure out how bad a Moreno Valley 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 Moreno Valley.

We also limited the analysis to places with over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 34 suburbs to evaluate around Moreno Valley.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 34 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 Moreno Valley.” We’re looking at you, Banning.

We updated this article for 2023, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Moreno Valley.

Summary: The areas around Moreno Valley where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Moreno Valley with Banning casting itself ahead of the pack.

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

  • Eastvale
  • El Cerrito
  • Canyon Lake

For more California reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Moreno Valley Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Banning 29,664 $46,834 $255,300
2 San Jacinto 53,299 $62,144 $291,100
3 San Bernardino 220,821 $55,372 $293,000
4 Hemet 88,903 $46,194 $226,000
5 Perris 78,106 $70,910 $333,900
6 Rialto 103,799 $69,934 $350,000
7 Lakeland 110,401 $52,972 $171,700
8 Colton 53,894 $60,874 $325,800
9 Montclair 37,871 $67,483 $423,300
10 Jurupa Valley 104,684 $83,430 $416,300
11 Highland 56,733 $69,225 $356,700
12 Lake Elsinore 68,822 $80,350 $392,200
13 Wildomar 36,511 $81,622 $413,800
14 Big Bear Lake 5,068 $65,441 $446,500
15 Ontario 175,223 $71,908 $438,300
16 Loma Linda 24,712 $63,272 $416,300
17 Yucaipa 54,312 $75,456 $364,600
18 Riverside 314,858 $76,755 $418,000
19 Beaumont 52,081 $92,797 $356,700
20 Grand Terrace 13,079 $76,791 $378,100
21 Menifee 101,089 $80,741 $371,500
22 Calimesa 10,053 $67,835 $279,200
23 Fontana 208,087 $83,468 $423,100
24 Chino 90,279 $91,107 $503,800
25 Redlands 72,649 $87,184 $455,700
26 Corona 157,844 $95,268 $530,100
27 Upland 78,624 $82,259 $571,600
28 Murrieta 111,096 $98,466 $458,000
29 Chino Hills 78,229 $109,285 $677,000
30 Norco 26,176 $115,619 $594,800
31 Rancho Cucamonga 173,946 $97,046 $551,700
32 Canyon Lake 11,071 $120,118 $496,700
33 El Cerrito 25,898 $116,875 $894,600
34 Eastvale 68,539 $141,827 $615,300
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

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