The 10 Worst New York City Suburbs


The worst New York City suburbs are Morristown and Newark based on Saturday Night Science. Find out where your town ranks.

More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround New York to avoid all the hustle and bustle.

So the question arises: what suburbs of New York are the worst?

Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which New York ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the New York area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to New York proper, although East Hills certainly tries.

We examined the 201 biggest suburbs of New York to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in New York lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of New York in terms of quality of life.


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


Now don’t freak out.

What’s the worst suburb of New York? Morristown ranks as the worst suburb of New York for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

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

And remember, there are some good places to live around New York too.

The 10 Worst New York Suburbs To Live For 2023

Morristown, NJ

Source: Flickr User Dougtone | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 30,387
Median Income: $36,495 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.4% (24th highest)
Median Home Value: $121,900 (3rd lowest)
More on Morristown: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

We’ll get the ball rolling with Morristown, the absolute worst place to live around New York according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Morristown beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the New York 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 Morristown.

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.

Newark, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Jamaalcobbs at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0
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/10

Population: 306,247
Median Income: $41,335 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.2% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $271,700 (10th lowest)
More on Newark: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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

This city is 12.9 miles to New York. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $41,335 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.

Perth Amboy, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Rafaelgarcia | CC BY-SA 3.0
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/10

Population: 55,046
Median Income: $53,750 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.7% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $282,600 (11th lowest)
More on Perth Amboy: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Back up the highway we go for the third worst New York suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Perth Amboy 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 New York suburbs.

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

Plainfield, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Dreamyunicorn123 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 54,183
Median Income: $63,750 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.1% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $287,300 (14th lowest)
More on Plainfield: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

If you live in Plainfield, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 14th lowest New York suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 11th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near New York. Remember, we looked at 201 cities for this study.

Plainfield is about 25.2 miles to downtown.

Paterson, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User BJT11091 | CC BY-SA 3.0
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Population: 157,927
Median Income: $48,540 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $269,200 (9th lowest)
More on Paterson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Paterson has the distinction of being a New York suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Paterson has the 9th lowest home values in the metro New York area, where the median price is $269,200. The median income is $250,001.

Paterson has an unemployment rate of 9.32% which ranks 15th worst.

Passaic, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 70,308
Median Income: $49,436 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.7% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $347,900 (34th lowest)
More on Passaic: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Passaic has 70,308 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 25.32381292395573%.

New Brunswick, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User MJKazin at English Wikipedia | GFDL
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Population: 55,671
Median Income: $49,338 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.5% (60th highest)
Median Home Value: $265,700 (8th lowest)
More on New Brunswick: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Ah, New Brunswick. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around New York.

It’s the place with the 60th most out of work residents in the New York metro area (6.49%).

Long Branch, NJ

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

6
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Population: 31,734
Median Income: $65,369 (16th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.5% (37th highest)
Median Home Value: $392,600 (60th lowest)
More on Long Branch: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Long Branch is a city about 25.6 miles from New York, but New York 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. Long Branch has the 13th most uninsured people, 16th worst incomes, and has the 37th highest unemployment rate (7.47%) in the entire New York metro area.

Homes only cost $392,600 for a reason. That’s cheap for New York standards.

East Orange, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 68,918
Median Income: $54,520 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.9% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $244,100 (5th lowest)
More on East Orange: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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

About 11.85% of residents are out of work.

North Plainfield, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 22,635
Median Income: $76,355 (34th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3% (16th highest)
Median Home Value: $285,000 (13th lowest)
More on North Plainfield: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Rounding out the ten worst New York suburbs to call home is North Plainfield.

Located 26.4 miles outside the city, North Plainfields is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 16th highest unemployment rate (9.32%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around New York for 2023

To figure out how bad a New York 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 New York.

We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 201 suburbs to evaluate around New York.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 201 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 New York.” We’re looking at you, Morristown.

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

Summary: The areas around New York where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding New York with Morristown casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around New York aren’t all bad. East Hills takes the cake as the best place to live around New York.

  • East Hills
  • East Williston
  • Essex Fells

For more New York reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst New York Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Morristown 30,387 $36,495 $121,900
2 Newark 306,247 $41,335 $271,700
3 Perth Amboy 55,046 $53,750 $282,600
4 Plainfield 54,183 $63,750 $287,300
5 Paterson 157,927 $48,540 $269,200
6 Passaic 70,308 $49,436 $347,900
7 New Brunswick 55,671 $49,338 $265,700
8 Long Branch 31,734 $65,369 $392,600
9 East Orange 68,918 $54,520 $244,100
10 North Plainfield 22,635 $76,355 $285,000
11 South River 16,087 $82,031 $322,200
12 East Newark 3,021 $60,048 $303,400
13 Carteret 25,077 $74,583 $284,200
14 Prospect Park 6,301 $51,618 $296,100
15 Linden 43,387 $80,200 $307,200
16 Elizabeth 135,772 $54,415 $314,500
17 Guttenberg 11,833 $65,532 $316,100
18 Hempstead 58,532 $74,680 $358,200
19 West New York 52,485 $65,913 $363,800
20 Fairview 14,918 $54,904 $429,600
21 Fairview 14,918 $54,904 $429,600
22 Roselle 22,511 $68,369 $249,700
23 Kearny 41,790 $76,647 $359,800
24 Hackensack 45,723 $73,716 $302,200
25 Englewood 29,129 $91,164 $410,200
26 Keyport 7,204 $66,025 $302,700
27 Greenville 12,785 $42,091 $106,900
28 Rahway 29,582 $81,368 $293,300
29 Elmwood Park 21,239 $75,091 $376,700
30 Spotswood 8,163 $92,527 $317,700
31 Woodland Park 13,265 $84,729 $390,400
32 Keansburg 9,781 $76,101 $213,500
33 Kenilworth 8,377 $107,316 $384,700
34 Ridgefield Park 13,202 $86,502 $388,600
35 Harrison 18,824 $68,494 $366,400
36 Bayonne 70,553 $72,839 $359,800
37 Little Ferry 10,973 $77,368 $361,800
38 Yonkers 209,730 $72,403 $420,000
39 Garfield 32,481 $66,296 $372,900
40 Lodi 25,983 $70,821 $393,500
41 South Amboy 9,320 $93,859 $322,100
42 Mount Vernon 72,855 $68,300 $380,500
43 Wallington 11,833 $75,410 $396,300
44 Middlesex 14,513 $90,162 $333,200
45 Sayreville 45,062 $89,600 $334,600
46 Port Chester 31,317 $88,093 $491,100
47 Clifton 89,460 $86,616 $369,800
48 Union 6,832 $64,858 $113,200
49 New Rochelle 80,685 $87,159 $578,000
50 Elmsford 5,176 $110,894 $472,100
51 Haledon 8,936 $94,146 $303,600
52 Red Bank 12,825 $80,781 $414,900
53 Dunellen 7,580 $81,525 $296,300
54 Chestnut Ridge 10,211 $98,203 $577,800
55 West Long Branch 8,470 $107,059 $483,300
56 Jersey City 287,146 $81,390 $437,200
57 Lincoln Park 10,877 $105,299 $353,500
58 Glen Cove 28,187 $81,693 $535,100
59 Island Park 4,901 $84,183 $433,500
60 Ridgefield 11,477 $93,045 $457,300
61 Palisades Park 20,291 $76,297 $604,500
62 Highlands 4,669 $82,456 $339,400
63 Boonton 8,770 $85,948 $416,300
64 Moonachie 3,079 $83,125 $373,500
65 Freeport 44,328 $100,507 $387,200
66 Roselle Park 13,973 $85,427 $319,400
67 North Haledon 8,893 $107,250 $429,800
68 East Rutherford 9,918 $86,592 $402,800
69 Cliffside Park 25,515 $89,387 $470,500
70 White Plains 59,452 $104,849 $559,100
71 Bergenfield 28,282 $111,851 $386,900
72 Carlstadt 6,358 $108,479 $428,800
73 Pompton Lakes 11,113 $100,906 $338,500
74 Highland Park 14,947 $85,652 $377,100
75 North Arlington 16,339 $94,012 $388,100
76 Secaucus 21,439 $125,246 $490,700
77 Amityville 9,542 $92,882 $430,500
78 Tinton Falls 19,053 $96,294 $374,300
79 Fort Lee 39,701 $92,456 $356,200
80 South Plainfield 24,251 $114,293 $362,200
81 Hasbrouck Heights 12,120 $102,639 $448,300
82 Union Beach 5,781 $114,028 $310,200
83 Maywood 10,049 $99,832 $417,200
84 New Milford 16,912 $98,992 $442,000
85 Garwood 4,425 $92,981 $409,800
86 Manorhaven 6,923 $89,341 $571,200
87 Lindenhurst 27,169 $106,548 $395,100
88 Bogota 8,830 $104,949 $349,600
89 Mamaroneck 19,989 $118,440 $640,900
90 Dumont 17,965 $108,333 $393,600
91 Totowa 11,013 $103,419 $389,300
92 Matawan 9,486 $115,035 $364,800
93 Oceanport 6,115 $111,400 $568,500
94 Paramus 26,650 $130,446 $623,900
95 Westbury 15,772 $114,863 $496,200
96 Emerson 7,317 $135,396 $556,100
97 Summit 22,598 $151,505 $852,300
98 East Rockaway 10,108 $108,052 $531,700
99 Great Neck 11,034 $107,695 $893,100
100 Harrison 28,635 $142,665 $894,000
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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