The 10 Worst San Bernardino Suburbs For 2022


We used science and data to determine which San Bernardino suburbs are the real pits.

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

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 San Bernardino 'burbs need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the San Bernardino area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the suburbs to live up to San Bernardino proper, although El Cerrito certainly tries.

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

We examined the 34 biggest suburbs of San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around San Bernardino for 2022:

  1. Hesperia
  2. Victorville
  3. Banning
  4. San Jacinto
  5. Apple Valley
  6. Perris
  7. Rialto
  8. Highland
  9. Colton
  10. Montclair

What's the worst suburb of San Bernardino? Hesperia ranks as the worst suburb of San Bernardino for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino 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 California reading, check out:

The 10 Worst San Bernardino Suburbs To Live For 2022

We'll get the ball rolling with Hesperia, the absolute worst place to live around San Bernardino according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Hesperia beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the San Bernardino area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 4th 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 Hesperia.

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.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 95,163
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 3)
Median Income: $54,149 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $255,500 (4th lowest)
More on Hesperia:  Data

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

This city is 26.9 miles to San Bernardino. Income levels here are the 5th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $55,155 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.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 122,958
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $55,155 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.1% (highest)
Median Home Value: $235,700 (lowest)
More on Victorville:  Data | Photos

Victorville, CA

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

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

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 30,276
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $43,442 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.7% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $242,000 (2nd lowest)
More on Banning:  Data | Photos

Banning, CA

Source: Public domain

If you live in San Jacinto, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 8th lowest San Bernardino suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 4th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near San Bernardino. Remember, we looked at 34 cities for this study.

San Jacinto is about 29.5 miles to downtown.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 48,786
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 3)
Median Income: $56,933 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.5% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $266,500 (5th lowest)
More on San Jacinto:  Data | Photos

San Jacinto, CA

Apple Valley has the distinction of being a San Bernardino suburb. Which means that's about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Apple Valley has the 6th lowest home values in the metro San Bernardino area, where the median price is $270,400. To put that into perspective, in El Cerrito, the median income is $127,881, which is the best in the area.

Apple Valley has an unemployment rate of 9.72% which ranks 3rd worst.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 73,339
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Median Income: $54,929 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.7% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $270,400 (6th lowest)
More on Apple Valley:  Data

Perris has 77,708 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 13.396243511578838%.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 77,708
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $66,926 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.8% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $309,500 (8th lowest)
More on Perris:  Data | Photos

Perris, CA

Ah, Rialto. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around San Bernardino.

It's the place with the 2nd most out of work residents in the San Bernardino metro area (10.63%).

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 103,549
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $65,538 (13th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.6% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $330,000 (9th lowest)
More on Rialto:  Data | Photos

Rialto, CA

Source: Public domain

Highland is a city about 7.6 miles from San Bernardino, but San Bernardino 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. Highland has the 10th most uninsured people, 11th worst incomes, and has the 10th highest unemployment rate (7.71%) in the entire San Bernardino metro area.

Homes only cost $338,500 for a reason. That's cheap for San Bernardino standards.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 55,339
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $62,956 (11th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.7% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $338,500 (11th lowest)
More on Highland:  Data | Photos

Highland, CA

If you absolutely have to live near San Bernardino, then Colton might be a place for you to consider as it's only the 9th worst San Bernardino suburb.

About 6.75% of residents are out of work.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 54,215
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 2)
Median Income: $56,762 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.8% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $292,300 (7th lowest)
More on Colton:  Data | Photos

Colton, CA

Rounding out the ten worst San Bernardino suburbs to call home is Montclair.

Located 23.6 miles outside the city, Montclairs 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.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 40,041
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 4)
Median Income: $63,245 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.2% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $388,100 (16th lowest)
More on Montclair:  Data | Photos

Montclair, CA

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around San Bernardino for 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 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 from 2016-2020, 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 San Bernardino.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 34 suburbs to evaluate around San Bernardino.

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 San Bernardino." We're lookin' at you, Hesperia. You can download the data here.

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.

Summary: The areas around San Bernardino where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2022

Well there you have it -- the worst of the 'burbs surrounding San Bernardino with Hesperia casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around San Bernardino aren't all bad. El Cerrito takes the cake as the best place to live around San Bernardino.

  • El Cerrito
  • Eastvale
  • Claremont

For more California reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst San Bernardino Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Hesperia 95,163 $54,149 $255,500
2 Victorville 122,958 $55,155 $235,700
3 Banning 30,276 $43,442 $242,000
4 San Jacinto 48,786 $56,933 $266,500
5 Apple Valley 73,339 $54,929 $270,400
6 Perris 77,708 $66,926 $309,500
7 Rialto 103,549 $65,538 $330,000
8 Highland 55,339 $62,956 $338,500
9 Colton 54,215 $56,762 $292,300
10 Montclair 40,041 $63,245 $388,100
11 Jurupa Valley 106,646 $77,787 $393,200
12 Moreno Valley 208,751 $70,385 $335,700
13 Pomona 151,124 $62,407 $420,600
14 Big Bear Lake 5,302 $54,896 $394,800
15 Ontario 178,194 $67,357 $408,000
16 Loma Linda 24,239 $56,021 $381,300
17 Riverside 327,569 $72,738 $389,500
18 Calimesa 9,156 $61,671 $249,300
19 Fontana 212,704 $75,681 $393,200
20 Beaumont 48,272 $88,932 $338,700
21 Yucaipa 54,358 $73,196 $345,100
22 Chino 89,170 $85,659 $476,800
23 Grand Terrace 12,559 $70,200 $355,400
24 Redlands 71,680 $81,265 $424,900
25 Corona 168,112 $88,434 $491,000
26 Upland 77,348 $76,259 $547,100
27 Norco 27,021 $106,370 $559,100
28 La Verne 32,346 $93,473 $602,000
29 San Dimas 33,812 $90,234 $604,600
30 Rancho Cucamonga 178,060 $92,290 $515,600
31 Chino Hills 82,800 $104,661 $642,500
32 Claremont 35,610 $101,080 $688,600
33 Eastvale 65,766 $127,881 $596,200
34 El Cerrito 25,280 $108,294 $858,000

How Is Your Town In ?

Editor's Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don't freak out we updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the worst suburbs around San Bernardino.
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.