More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Pomona to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Pomona are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Pomona ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Pomona area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Pomona proper, although San Marino certainly tries.
We examined the 93 biggest suburbs of Pomona 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 Pomona in terms of quality of life.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 worst suburbs around Pomona for 2023
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Pomona? San Bernardino ranks as the worst suburb of Pomona for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
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 Pomona too.
The 10 Worst Pomona Suburbs To Live For 2023
/10
Population: 220,821
Median Income: $55,372 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.4% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $293,000 (3rd lowest)
More on San Bernardino: Data
We’ll get the ball rolling with San Bernardino, the absolute worst place to live around Pomona according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, San Bernardino beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 6th worst in the Pomona 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 San Bernardino.
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.
/10
Population: 12,459
Median Income: $58,226 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.5% (16th highest)
Median Home Value: $455,700 (23rd lowest)
More on Commerce: Data
Welcome to Commerce. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 22.7 miles to Pomona. Income levels here are the 9th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $58,226 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.
/10
Population: 23,003
Median Income: $47,050 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.6% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $434,200 (15th lowest)
More on Cudahy: Data
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Pomona suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Cudahy 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 Pomona suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
/10
Population: 103,799
Median Income: $69,934 (23rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.1% (highest)
Median Home Value: $350,000 (5th lowest)
More on Rialto: Data
If you live in Rialto, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 23rd lowest Pomona 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 Pomona. Remember, we looked at 93 cities for this study.
Rialto is about 21.6 miles to downtown.
/10
Population: 55,439
Median Income: $51,065 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.0% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $452,300 (2lowest)
More on Huntington Park: Data
Huntington Park has the distinction of being a Pomona suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Huntington Park has the 2lowest home values in the metro Pomona area, where the median price is $452,300. The median income is $181,591.
Huntington Park has an unemployment rate of 10.0% which ranks 2nd worst.
/10
Population: 37,871
Median Income: $67,483 (20th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.8% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $423,300 (13th lowest)
More on Montclair: Data
Montclair has 37,871 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 17.779793022511466%.
/10
Population: 96,083
Median Income: $62,297 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.2% (9th highest)
Median Home Value: $423,000 (11th lowest)
More on Compton: Data
Ah, Compton. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Pomona.
It’s the place with the 9th most out of work residents in the Pomona metro area (8.23%).
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Population: 67,497
Median Income: $61,612 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.5% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $449,300 (18th lowest)
More on Lynwood: Data
Lynwood is a city about 26.9 miles from Pomona, but Pomona 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. Lynwood has the 4th most uninsured people, 14th worst incomes, and has the 3rd highest unemployment rate (9.55%) in the entire Pomona metro area.
Homes only cost $449,300 for a reason. That’s cheap for Pomona standards.
/10
Population: 53,894
Median Income: $60,874 (13th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.4% (17th highest)
Median Home Value: $325,800 (4th lowest)
More on Colton: Data
If you absolutely have to live near Pomona, then Colton might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Pomona suburb.
About 7.36% of residents are out of work.
/10
Population: 39,870
Median Income: $50,311 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (44th highest)
Median Home Value: $423,700 (14th lowest)
More on Bell Gardens: Data
Rounding out the ten worst Pomona suburbs to call home is Bell Gardens.
Located 23.4 miles outside the city, Bell Gardenss is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 44th highest unemployment rate (5.8%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Pomona for 2023
To figure out how bad a Pomona 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 Pomona.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 93 suburbs to evaluate around Pomona.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 93 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 Pomona.” We’re looking at you, San Bernardino.
We updated this article for 2023, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Pomona.
Summary: The areas around Pomona where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Pomona with San Bernardino casting itself ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Pomona aren’t all bad. San Marino takes the cake as the best place to live around Pomona.
- San Marino
- South Pasadena
- Yorba Linda
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In California
- Cheapest Places To Live In California
- Most Dangerous Cities In California
- Best Places To Retire In California
- Richest Cities In California
- Safest Places In California
- Worst Places To Live In California
Detailed List Of The Worst Pomona Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Bernardino | 220,821 | $55,372 | $293,000 |
| 2 | Commerce | 12,459 | $58,226 | $455,700 |
| 3 | Cudahy | 23,003 | $47,050 | $434,200 |
| 4 | Rialto | 103,799 | $69,934 | $350,000 |
| 5 | Huntington Park | 55,439 | $51,065 | $452,300 |
| 6 | Montclair | 37,871 | $67,483 | $423,300 |
| 7 | Compton | 96,083 | $62,297 | $423,000 |
| 8 | Lynwood | 67,497 | $61,612 | $449,300 |
| 9 | Colton | 53,894 | $60,874 | $325,800 |
| 10 | Bell Gardens | 39,870 | $50,311 | $423,700 |
| 11 | Bell | 33,915 | $51,183 | $450,900 |
| 12 | South Gate | 93,308 | $59,647 | $470,200 |
| 13 | Jurupa Valley | 104,684 | $83,430 | $416,300 |
| 14 | El Monte | 110,144 | $56,524 | $508,200 |
| 15 | South El Monte | 19,860 | $60,244 | $478,800 |
| 16 | Ontario | 175,223 | $71,908 | $438,300 |
| 17 | Maywood | 25,477 | $54,535 | $481,800 |
| 18 | Loma Linda | 24,712 | $63,272 | $416,300 |
| 19 | Stanton | 38,167 | $68,821 | $454,200 |
| 20 | Riverside | 314,858 | $76,755 | $418,000 |
| 21 | Hawaiian Gardens | 14,178 | $66,578 | $439,900 |
| 22 | Paramount | 53,904 | $60,456 | $412,300 |
| 23 | Azusa | 49,457 | $74,043 | $477,300 |
| 24 | Baldwin Park | 72,813 | $72,554 | $464,800 |
| 25 | Montebello | 62,828 | $66,584 | $557,400 |
| 26 | La Puente | 38,447 | $73,827 | $467,200 |
| 27 | Fontana | 208,087 | $83,468 | $423,100 |
| 28 | Bellflower | 79,070 | $70,236 | $535,300 |
| 29 | Grand Terrace | 13,079 | $76,791 | $378,100 |
| 30 | Westminster | 91,267 | $71,108 | $651,200 |
| 31 | Long Beach | 466,565 | $71,150 | $614,900 |
| 32 | Midway | 3,402 | $55,947 | $164,900 |
| 33 | Santa Ana | 313,818 | $77,283 | $556,300 |
| 34 | Santa Fe Springs | 18,817 | $75,086 | $490,200 |
| 35 | Anaheim | 348,204 | $81,806 | $623,300 |
| 36 | Garden Grove | 172,708 | $78,046 | $601,000 |
| 37 | Rosemead | 51,698 | $64,224 | $610,000 |
| 38 | Temple | 5,093 | $77,509 | $129,100 |
| 39 | Chino | 90,279 | $91,107 | $503,800 |
| 40 | Pico Rivera | 62,383 | $78,056 | $490,300 |
| 41 | Duarte | 21,723 | $86,903 | $575,500 |
| 42 | Glendale | 196,512 | $74,488 | $865,400 |
| 43 | La Habra | 63,287 | $88,002 | $600,400 |
| 44 | Covina | 51,061 | $81,570 | $575,500 |
| 45 | Downey | 114,293 | $77,972 | $608,600 |
| 46 | Signal Hill | 11,780 | $79,309 | $551,000 |
| 47 | Los Alamitos | 11,780 | $91,051 | $822,100 |
| 48 | Norwalk | 103,330 | $83,217 | $487,800 |
| 49 | Artesia | 16,390 | $83,321 | $635,000 |
| 50 | Monterey Park | 61,153 | $68,497 | $667,300 |
| 51 | Upland | 78,624 | $82,259 | $571,600 |
| 52 | Fullerton | 142,964 | $92,718 | $698,600 |
| 53 | San Gabriel | 39,673 | $76,918 | $768,500 |
| 54 | West Covina | 109,396 | $89,834 | $602,400 |
| 55 | Corona | 157,844 | $95,268 | $530,100 |
| 56 | Monrovia | 37,999 | $87,077 | $723,000 |
| 57 | Whittier | 87,184 | $80,306 | $630,200 |
| 58 | Pasadena | 138,771 | $89,661 | $863,100 |
| 59 | Alhambra | 83,174 | $73,035 | $654,000 |
| 60 | Costa Mesa | 112,148 | $96,391 | $841,700 |
| 61 | Buena Park | 83,974 | $90,503 | $627,200 |
| 62 | La Verne | 31,423 | $95,957 | $625,000 |
| 63 | Tustin | 79,895 | $93,901 | $735,400 |
| 64 | Orange | 139,195 | $102,125 | $712,500 |
| 65 | Glendora | 52,458 | $103,159 | $662,400 |
| 66 | Seal Beach | 25,216 | $75,821 | $451,900 |
| 67 | Chino Hills | 78,229 | $109,285 | $677,000 |
| 68 | Rancho Cucamonga | 173,946 | $97,046 | $551,700 |
| 69 | San Dimas | 34,775 | $101,144 | $626,000 |
| 70 | Norco | 26,176 | $115,619 | $594,800 |
| 71 | Irvine | 297,868 | $114,027 | $900,700 |
| 72 | Brea | 46,912 | $108,721 | $727,500 |
| 73 | Fountain Valley | 57,139 | $92,765 | $816,900 |
| 74 | Claremont | 36,312 | $111,937 | $711,800 |
| 75 | Diamond Bar | 55,339 | $100,776 | $702,600 |
| 76 | Lake Forest | 85,516 | $117,374 | $719,700 |
| 77 | Placentia | 51,951 | $103,041 | $697,900 |
| 78 | La Mirada | 47,957 | $97,672 | $629,900 |
| 79 | Lakewood | 82,419 | $102,163 | $620,100 |
| 80 | Arcadia | 56,697 | $99,588 | $1,152,200 |
| 81 | Huntington Beach | 198,735 | $104,728 | $845,500 |
| 82 | Walnut | 28,641 | $121,882 | $827,700 |
| 83 | Cypress | 50,279 | $109,180 | $702,000 |
| 84 | Cerritos | 49,630 | $115,600 | $764,200 |
| 85 | La Habra Heights | 5,651 | $181,591 | $945,800 |
| 86 | El Cerrito | 25,898 | $116,875 | $894,600 |
| 87 | Eastvale | 68,539 | $141,827 | $615,300 |
| 88 | Villa Park | 5,864 | $172,375 | $1,287,100 |
| 89 | La Palma | 15,650 | $106,473 | $733,600 |
| 90 | Sierra Madre | 11,253 | $116,884 | $1,048,300 |
| 91 | Yorba Linda | 68,319 | $137,011 | $884,900 |
| 92 | South Pasadena | 26,837 | $115,088 | $1,174,400 |
| 93 | San Marino | 12,620 | $174,722 | $2,000,001 |
