These Are The 10 Worst Pasadena Suburbs For 2018

Not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Pasadena.

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 Pasadena ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Pasadena area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Pasadena proper, although West University Place certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Pasadena are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado…

We examined the 21 biggest suburbs of Pasadena to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Texas lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Pasadena in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Pasadena for 2018:

1. Humble (Photos)
2. Galena Park (Photos)
3. Hitchcock
4. South Houston (Photos)
5. La Marque (Photos)
6. Baytown (Photos)
7. Webster (Photos)
8. Alvin (Photos)
9. Houston (Photos)
10. Dickinson (Photos)

Read on to see how we determined the places around Pasadena that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.

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

And remember, there are some good places to live around Pasadena 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 Texas reading, check out:

• 10 Best Places To Live In Texas
• 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Texas
• 10 Most Dangerous Places In Texas

Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Pasadena for 2018

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, 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 Pasadena.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 7,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 21 suburbs to evaluate around Pasadena.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 21 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 Pasadena.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Humble.

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.

1. Humble

Population: 15,569
Unemployment Rate: 10.0%
Median Home Price: $111,200
Median Income: $37,257
More on Humble: Data | Jobs

We’ll get the ball rolling with Humble, the absolute worst place to live around Pasadena according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Humble beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 1st worst in the Pasadena area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 6th 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 Humble.

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.

2. Galena Park

Population: 11,119
Unemployment Rate: 8.4%
Median Home Price: $67,400
Median Income: $44,467
More on Galena Park: Data | Jobs

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

This city is 7.8 miles to Pasadena. Income levels here are the 4th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $44,467 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.

3. Hitchcock

Population: 7,464
Unemployment Rate: 9.4%
Median Home Price: $91,000
Median Income: $44,588
More on Hitchcock: Data | Jobs

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

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

4. South Houston

Population: 17,474
Unemployment Rate: 8.0%
Median Home Price: $83,400
Median Income: $42,016
More on South Houston: Data | Jobs

If you live in South Houston, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 2nd lowest Pasadena suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 9th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Pasadena. Remember, we looked at 21 cities for this study.

South Houston is about 4.7 miles to downtown.

5. La Marque

Population: 15,567
Unemployment Rate: 13.8%
Median Home Price: $88,000
Median Income: $42,572
More on La Marque: Data | Jobs

La Marque has the distinction of being a Pasadena suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, La Marque has the 3rd lowest home values in the metro Pasadena area, where the median price is $88,000. To put that into perspective, in West University Place, the median income is $220,868, which is the best in the area.

La Marque has an unemployment rate of 13.8% which ranks 1st worst.

6. Baytown

Population: 75,310
Unemployment Rate: 9.8%
Median Home Price: $96,100
Median Income: $49,930
More on Baytown: Data | Jobs

Baytown has 75,310 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 16.4%.

7. Webster

Population: 11,041
Unemployment Rate: 9.7%
Median Home Price: $150,500
Median Income: $46,829
More on Webster: Data | Jobs

Ah, Webster. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Pasadena.

It’s the place with the 4th most out of work residents in the Pasadena metro area (9.7%).

8. Alvin

Population: 25,500
Unemployment Rate: 6.9%
Median Home Price: $113,800
Median Income: $45,949
More on Alvin: Data | Jobs

Alvin is a city about 16.6 miles from Pasadena, but Pasadena 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. Alvin has the 9th most uninsured people, 6th worst incomes, and has the 13th highest unemployment rate (6.9%) in the entire Pasadena metro area.

Homes only cost $113,800 for a reason. That’s cheap for Pasadena standards.

9. Houston

Population: 2,240,582
Unemployment Rate: 7.4%
Median Home Price: $140,300
Median Income: $47,010
More on Houston: Data | Jobs

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

About 7.4% of residents are out of work.

10. Dickinson

Population: 19,583
Unemployment Rate: 7.6%
Median Home Price: $139,400
Median Income: $68,300
More on Dickinson: Data | Jobs

Rounding out the ten worst Pasadena suburbs to call home is Dickinson.

Located 15.4 miles outside the city, Dickinsons is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 10th highest unemployment rate (7.6%), and poverty is far above the area average.

The areas around Pasadena where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2018

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Pasadena with Humble casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Pasadena aren’t all bad. West University Place takes the cake as the best place to live around Pasadena.

For more Texas reading, check out:

• 10 Most Ghetto Cities In Texas
• These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Texas
• 10 Safest Places In Texas
• 10 Worst Places To Live In Texas

Detailed List Of The Worst Pasadena Suburbs

Rank	City	Population	Unemployment Rate	Median Home Price	Median Income
1	Humble	15,569	10.0%	$111,200	$37,257
2	Galena Park	11,119	8.4%	$67,400	$44,467
3	Hitchcock	7,464	9.4%	$91,000	$44,588
4	South Houston	17,474	8.0%	$83,400	$42,016
5	La Marque	15,567	13.8%	$88,000	$42,572
6	Baytown	75,310	9.8%	$96,100	$49,930
7	Webster	11,041	9.7%	$150,500	$46,829
8	Alvin	25,500	6.9%	$113,800	$45,949
9	Houston	2,240,582	7.4%	$140,300	$47,010
10	Dickinson	19,583	7.6%	$139,400	$68,300
11	Santa Fe	12,839	8.8%	$156,200	$61,842
12	La Porte	34,922	7.1%	$126,500	$70,681
13	Stafford	18,026	4.7%	$164,400	$59,402
14	Deer Park	33,517	8.5%	$141,200	$78,703
15	Manvel	7,402	2.0%	$167,400	$82,170
16	Friendswood	38,272	5.3%	$241,700	$95,241
17	Seabrook	13,038	3.8%	$199,800	$84,764
18	Pearland	106,238	4.5%	$194,200	$96,954
19	Sugar Land	85,681	5.0%	$283,400	$108,504
20	Bellaire	18,140	2.1%	$770,500	$187,805
21	West University Place	15,318	2.7%	$917,800	$220,868