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Santa Ana's neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You've got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there's a neighborhood for everyone in Santa Ana.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the country thanks in part to a strong economy and tons of entertainment, it's not all rainbows and sunshine in Santa Ana. Some neighborhoods aren't as great as others.
So the question arises, which Santa Ana neighborhoods are the worst, and which are the best?
Today, we'll use science and data to determine which Santa Ana hoods need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the Santa Ana area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the neighborhoods to be amazing, although Metro Classic ranks way above the rest.
We examined 58 of Santa Ana's neighborhoods to find out the worst places to live. These places don't quite measure up to Santa Ana's reputation.
The Worst Neighborhoods In Santa Ana For 2022
So what's the worst neighborhood to live in Santa Ana for 2022? According to the most recent census data, Lyon Street looks to be the worst neighborhood in Santa Ana.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Santa Ana that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don't blame the messenger.
Once you're done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of every neighborhood we looked at from worst to best. Looking for places to avoid outside of the city? You can also check out the worst suburbs of Santa Ana.
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In California
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The 10 Worst Neighborhoods In Santa Ana For 2022
/10
Population: 4,059
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $216,925 (4th worst)
Median Income: $42,105 (9th worst)
More on Lyon Street: Data
/10
Population: 12,569
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $229,471 (5th worst)
Median Income: $49,834 (16th worst)
More on Santa Anita: Data
/10
Population: 763
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $229,900 (6th worst)
Median Income: $64,427 (35th worst)
More on Mar-Les: Data
/10
Population: 5,857
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $20,000 (worst)
Median Income: $26,935 (worst)
More on Cornerstone Village: Data
/10
Population: 4,564
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $233,600 (7th worst)
Median Income: $50,267 (18th worst)
More on Bella Vista: Data
/10
Population: 5,533
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $354,300 (19th worst)
Median Income: $55,482 (24th worst)
More on Delhi: Data
/10
Population: 1,006
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $269,350 (8th worst)
Median Income: $52,813 (20th worst)
More on Riverglen: Data
/10
Population: 2,227
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 1)
Median Home Value: $294,167 (13th worst)
Median Income: $27,603 (2nd worst)
More on French Court: Data
/10
Population: 2,226
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $291,567 (12th worst)
Median Income: $31,895 (5th worst)
More on French Park: Data
/10
Population: 13,221
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $344,433 (17th worst)
Median Income: $55,230 (23rd worst)
More on Artesia Pilar: Data
Methodology: How we determined the worst Santa Ana neighborhoods in 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 places have the least amount of those things. We threw the following criteria into this analysis in order to get the best, most complete results possible. We used this set of criteria for each neighborhood in Santa Ana:
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one's willing to pay to live here)
- High crime (Estimated)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Santa Ana, California for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criteria into a "Worst Score".
The neighborhood with the lowest "Worst Score" ranks as the worst neighborhood of Santa Ana.
Read on below to learn more about these terrible places around Santa Ana to live. Or skip to the end to see the list of all 58 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Hold on to your pants.
Summary: The Worst Neighborhoods Around Santa Ana
Well there you have it -- the worst of the neighborhoods in Santa Ana with Lyon Street landing at the bottom of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Santa Ana aren't all bad. Metro Classic takes the cake as the best place to live in Santa Ana.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below.
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