The 10 Worst Suburbs To Live In The United States

Do you like the suburbs? Most of America lives in either a large city or in a suburb of a larger city.

The suburbs have obvious benefits – less crime, a slower pace of life, and a lower cost of living. But not all American suburbs aren’t created equal. There are some outlying areas that are, frankly, pretty lousy. But which ones?

Instead of relying on public opinion and speculation, we wanted to get the facts straight and dug into the data to find out which suburbs are to be avoided. If you’re in one of the places we’re about to highlight, odds are you know things aren’t a place that you can let your guard down too often.

Turns out Prichard, Alabama is the worst suburb where you can live in this country. The best? West University Place, a Houston burb.

Here are the worst suburbs in America:

So basically, large parts of the south (especially Alabama) are the areas you want to avoid if you want to enjoy suburbia in America. At least generally.

Or, if you’re interested in reading something else, check out:

The 10 Worst Suburbs In The United States

1. Prichard, AL

Source: Public domain

Population: 22,483
College educated: 10%
Unemployment rate: 21%
Incomes: $21,293

The Mobile suburb of Prichard has the unfortunate distinction of having two ‘21s’ in its data set – 21% of the population is out of work, and the average family earns about $21,000 a year. That’s far below what a typical American family of 4 needs to live comfortably each month.

2. Adelanto, CA

Source: Flickr User TikTak Images | CC BY-ND 2.0

Population: 31,273
College educated: 6%
Unemployment rate: 25%
Incomes: $35,393

Adelanto is considered a Victorville suburb, but is a Los Angeles suburb as well. The fact that more than 1 in 4 people is out of work is an indication of the commitment Adelanto residents have towards earning a decent living. There are plenty of jobs in Southern California.

3. West Memphis, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Nick8282 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Population: 25,384
College educated: 11%
Unemployment rate: 15%
Incomes: $30,384

Memphis itself is atop lots of lists for being a dangerous, poor place to live. Arkansas’ West Memphis is the worst of its suburbs, where 1 in 6 residents is out of work, and where many families struggle to make ends meet each month.

4. Bessemer, AL

Source: Wikipedia User Bobak Ha’Eri | CC BY 3.0

Population: 27,702
College educated: 12%
Unemployment rate: 14%
Incomes: $30,934

The Birmingham suburb of Bessemer had one of the lowest income levels for southern suburbs, but at least 12% of the population has a college degree. That’s high for cities on this list. What was once an ore mining and railroad hub has since gone away, taking jobs and incomes with it.

5. Moss Point, MS

Source: Wikipedia User Chris Pruitt | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 13,298
College educated: 14%
Unemployment rate: 16%
Incomes: $27,093

This Pascagoula, Mississippi suburb gets low marks for the number of folks out of work and income levels, which are the key reasons why the home prices here are hovering near the $87,000 mark.

There were 16 rapes, 31 robberies, 71 assaults, 411 burglaries, 311 larceny counts and 70 auto thefts per year here. The crime index average for 3 years is 615.8 per 100,000. The U.S. average is 309.2

6. Sebring, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Chuck Schultz from Anniston, AL, USA, upload by Herrick | CC BY-SA 2.0

Population: 10,364
College educated: 14%
Unemployment rate: 16%
Incomes: $27,203

An Avon Park suburb, Sebring sees about 1 in 6 residents fail to find a job each year, and families simply struggle to make ends meet each year. On the bright side, there are more things to do in the general area here than in many of the cities listed above.

7. Cahokia, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Rklawton | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 15,000
College educated: 7%
Unemployment rate: 16%
Incomes: $30,294

Parts of St. Louis rank consistently low for high crime and bad economies. Cahokia, a village in Illinois, is one of the lousiest cities in the general St. Louis area, where only 7% of the population has a decent education.

8. Freeport, TX

Source: Wikipedia User BrianReading | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 12,128
College educated: 8%
Unemployment rate: 11%
Incomes: $36,293

Freeport is a Lake Jackson suburb in Texas, where things aren’t going very well right now. An 11% unemployment rate is actually not too bad for cities on this list, but about double the national average. Homes here average only about $66,000 each, which is very low, even for parts of the Lone Star State.

9. Romulus, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Traveler100 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 23,293
College educated: 11%
Unemployment rate: 16%
Incomes: $44,293

Detroit is trying to make a resurgence, but many of the areas surrounding Detroit are in dire straits. Here in Romulus, income levels are higher than most cities on this list, but a lot of folks are out of work, and crime is far higher than the state average.

10. Mercedes, TX

Source: Wikipedia User Akissforme | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 16,293
College educated: 12%
Unemployment rate: 18%
Incomes: $30,213

We round out the nation’s worst suburbs with Mercedes, another city in Texas where folks are struggling. Nearly 1 in 5 potential workers can’t find a job, and homes are some of the cheapest in the entire state.

That’s certainly a sign that there’s no demand to live here.

The Worst Suburbs In The US – There You Have It

When you’re looking at American suburbs that have really bad local economies, this is an accurate list.

Here are the best suburbs in America:

West University Place, TX
Piedmont, CA
Key Biscayne Village, FL
Hoboken, NJ
Bellaire, TX

How do you decide if a suburb is lousy or not?

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the government census, this is the criteria we used:

Low college graduates
High unemployment rates
Low incomes
Low home prices
Low population densities

We only considered suburbs that were over 10,000 people.

Detailed List Of The Worst Suburbs In America

City	Suburb Of	Rank	Population	College Educated	Unemployment Rate
Prichard	Mobile, AL Urbanized Area	1	22,475	9.6%	20.9%
Adelanto	Victorville–Hesperia, CA Urbanized Area	2	31,773	6.4%	25.5%
West Memphis	Memphis, TN–MS–AR Urbanized Area	3	25,767	11.3%	14.9%
Bessemer	Birmingham, AL Urbanized Area	4	27,202	12.8%	14.2%
Moss Point	Pascagoula, MS Urbanized Area	5	13,690	13.9%	16.7%
Sebring	Sebring–Avon Park, FL Urbanized Area	6	10,356	13.8%	16.7%
Cahokia	St. Louis, MO–IL Urbanized Area	7	14,905	7.3%	15.9%
Freeport	Lake Jackson–Angleton, TX Urbanized Area	8	12,108	8.3%	11.6%
Romulus	Detroit, MI Urbanized Area	9	23,721	10.8%	16.5%
Mercedes	Harlingen, TX Urbanized Area	10	16,271	12.7%	18.3%
Mercedes	McAllen, TX Urbanized Area	11	16,271	12.7%	18.3%
Benton Harbor	Benton Harbor–St. Joseph–Fair Plain, MI Urbanized Area	12	10,056	4.5%	28.4%
East St. Louis	St. Louis, MO–IL Urbanized Area	13	26,697	8.0%	16.4%
Gary	Chicago, IL–IN Urbanized Area	14	79,165	13.1%	18.8%
Lexington	Winston-Salem, NC Urbanized Area	15	19,029	14.0%	18.5%
Lake Station	Chicago, IL–IN Urbanized Area	16	12,369	5.4%	16.5%
San Benito	Harlingen, TX Urbanized Area	17	24,447	8.7%	12.3%
Apache Junction	Phoenix–Mesa, AZ Urbanized Area	18	36,965	12.9%	16.3%
Forest Park	Atlanta, GA Urbanized Area	19	18,783	8.0%	17.1%
Socorro	El Paso, TX–NM Urbanized Area	20	32,623	6.8%	13.1%
Kings Mountain	Gastonia, NC–SC Urbanized Area	21	10,743	12.6%	15.5%
Kings Mountain	Shelby, NC Urban Cluster	22	10,743	12.6%	15.5%
Lenoir	Hickory, NC Urbanized Area	23	18,061	15.3%	16.3%
Spring Lake	Fayetteville, NC Urbanized Area	24	13,101	17.9%	16.1%
Trotwood	Dayton, OH Urbanized Area	25	24,322	15.3%	12.5%
Anniston	Anniston–Oxford, AL Urbanized Area	26	22,749	20.9%	16.3%
East Chicago	Chicago, IL–IN Urbanized Area	27	29,387	7.5%	17.0%
Florida City	Miami, FL Urbanized Area	28	11,853	5.3%	28.7%
Sunland Park	El Paso, TX–NM Urbanized Area	29	14,794	11.5%	12.0%
Kelso	Longview, WA–OR Urbanized Area	30	11,837	10.0%	22.5%
Cocoa	Palm Bay–Melbourne, FL Urbanized Area	31	17,261	15.9%	16.1%
Leesburg	Leesburg–Eustis–Tavares, FL Urbanized Area	32	20,915	19.3%	17.1%
Newton	Hickory, NC Urbanized Area	33	12,998	15.1%	12.7%
Muskegon Heights	Muskegon, MI Urbanized Area	34	10,807	5.0%	27.0%
Lake Wales	Crooked Lake Park, FL Urban Cluster	35	14,665	19.2%	19.1%
Lake Wales	Winter Haven, FL Urbanized Area	36	14,665	19.2%	19.1%
Bellmead	Waco, TX Urbanized Area	37	10,052	6.1%	10.2%
Burton	Flint, MI Urbanized Area	38	29,429	15.0%	16.3%
Orange City	Deltona, FL Urbanized Area	39	10,968	15.5%	13.1%
Covington	Atlanta, GA Urbanized Area	40	13,342	13.8%	10.8%
Texas City	Houston, TX Urbanized Area	41	45,802	12.5%	12.2%
Niles	South Bend, IN–MI Urbanized Area	42	11,479	11.9%	13.9%
Pontiac	Detroit, MI Urbanized Area	43	59,658	11.0%	21.0%
Fort Pierce	Port St. Lucie, FL Urbanized Area	44	42,744	13.9%	16.3%
Union City	Atlanta, GA Urbanized Area	45	20,200	20.2%	14.6%
Donna	McAllen, TX Urbanized Area	46	16,169	11.9%	11.6%
Cottonwood	Cottonwood–Verde Village, AZ Urban Cluster	47	11,358	16.1%	12.2%
Highland Park	Detroit, MI Urbanized Area	48	10,951	10.8%	35.0%
Bartow	Lakeland, FL Urbanized Area	49	17,766	17.0%	11.3%
Moss Point	Pascagoula, MS Urbanized Area	5	13,690	13.9%	16.7%