Article Table Of Contents
Not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Yonkers.
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 Yonkers 'burbs need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the Yonkers area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the suburbs to live up to Yonkers proper, although East Hills certainly tries.
Of course, not all suburbs of Yonkers are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..
We examined the 190 biggest suburbs of Yonkers 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 Yonkers in terms of quality of life.
Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Yonkers for 2022:
- Newark
- Passaic
- Paterson
- Haverstraw
- Spring Valley
- Peekskill
- Elizabeth
- East Orange
- Prospect Park
- Linden
What's the worst suburb of Yonkers? Newark ranks as the worst suburb of Yonkers for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Yonkers that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don't blame the messenger.
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 Yonkers 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 New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New York
- Cheapest Places To Live In New York
- Most Dangerous Places In New York
The 10 Worst Yonkers Suburbs To Live For 2022
We'll get the ball rolling with Newark, the absolute worst place to live around Yonkers according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Newark beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Yonkers area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 9th 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 Newark.
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
2. Passaic
Welcome to Passaic. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 14.9 miles to Yonkers. Income levels here are the 5th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $44,779 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.
/10
Population: 69,789
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 8)
Median Income: $44,779 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.1% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $348,000 (35th lowest)
More on Passaic:
3. Paterson
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Yonkers suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Paterson 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 Yonkers suburbs.
But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.
/10
Population: 145,484
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 9)
Median Income: $45,141 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.4% (16th highest)
Median Home Value: $257,700 (10th lowest)
More on Paterson:
If you live in Haverstraw, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 2lowest Yonkers suburb when it comes to residents making money.
Not only that, but this is the 10th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Yonkers. Remember, we looked at 190 cities for this study.
Haverstraw is about 16.5 miles to downtown.
/10
Spring Valley has the distinction of being a Yonkers suburb. Which means that's about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Spring Valley has the 22nd lowest home values in the metro Yonkers area, where the median price is $312,100. To put that into perspective, in East Hills, the median income is $250,001, which is the best in the area.
Spring Valley has an unemployment rate of 6.81% which ranks 26th worst.
/10
Peekskill has 24,111 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 13.021660951743751%.
/10
7. Elizabeth
Ah, Elizabeth. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Yonkers.
It's the place with the 52nd most out of work residents in the Yonkers metro area (5.99%).
/10
Population: 128,484
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 2)
Median Income: $50,647 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.0% (52nd highest)
Median Home Value: $291,300 (16th lowest)
More on Elizabeth:
8. East Orange
East Orange is a city about 21.9 miles from Yonkers, but Yonkers 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. East Orange has the 24th most uninsured people, 10th worst incomes, and has the 2nd highest unemployment rate (11.97%) in the entire Yonkers metro area.
Homes only cost $226,000 for a reason. That's cheap for Yonkers standards.
/10
Population: 64,650
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Median Income: $50,990 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.0% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $226,000 (3rd lowest)
More on East Orange:
9. Prospect Park
If you absolutely have to live near Yonkers, then Prospect Park might be a place for you to consider as it's only the 9th worst Yonkers suburb.
About 6.45% of residents are out of work.
/10
Population: 5,853
Rank Last Year: 23 (Up 14)
Median Income: $48,838 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.4% (35th highest)
Median Home Value: $280,100 (14th lowest)
More on Prospect Park:
10. Linden
Rounding out the ten worst Yonkers suburbs to call home is Linden.
Located 29.4 miles outside the city, Lindens is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 48th highest unemployment rate (6.12%), and poverty is far above the area average.
/10
Population: 42,332
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 1)
Median Income: $75,084 (33rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.1% (48th highest)
Median Home Value: $293,700 (17th lowest)
More on Linden:
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Yonkers 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 Yonkers.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 190 suburbs to evaluate around Yonkers.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 190 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 Yonkers." We're lookin' at you, Newark. 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 Yonkers where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2022
Well there you have it -- the worst of the 'burbs surrounding Yonkers with Newark casting itself ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Yonkers aren't all bad. East Hills takes the cake as the best place to live around Yonkers.
- East Hills
- East Williston
- Scarsdale
For more New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In New York
- Richest Cities In New York
- Safest Places In New York According To Science
- Worst Places To Live In New York State
Detailed List Of The Worst Yonkers Suburbs
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Newark | 281,917 |
2 | Passaic | 69,789 |
3 | Paterson | 145,484 |
4 | Haverstraw | 12,076 |
5 | Spring Valley | 32,295 |
6 | Peekskill | 24,111 |
7 | Elizabeth | 128,484 |
8 | East Orange | 64,650 |
9 | Prospect Park | 5,853 |
10 | Linden | 42,332 |
11 | Greenville | 12,743 |
12 | West New York | 52,778 |
13 | Hempstead | 55,153 |
14 | Guttenberg | 11,284 |
15 | Roselle | 21,699 |
16 | Kearny | 41,190 |
17 | West Haverstraw | 10,220 |
18 | Kenilworth | 8,182 |
19 | East Newark | 2,634 |
20 | Fairview | 14,218 |
21 | Norwalk | 88,755 |
22 | Haledon | 8,298 |
23 | Bayonne | 65,112 |
24 | Hackensack | 44,266 |
25 | Greenwood Lake | 3,080 |
26 | Woodland Park | 12,608 |
27 | Elmsford | 5,197 |
28 | Harrison | 18,313 |
29 | Port Chester | 29,210 |
30 | Elmwood Park | 20,019 |
31 | Little Ferry | 10,761 |
32 | Union | 6,777 |
33 | Mount Vernon | 67,623 |
34 | Bloomingdale | 8,080 |
35 | Lodi | 24,389 |
36 | Moonachie | 2,714 |
37 | Clifton | 85,201 |
38 | Englewood | 28,390 |
39 | New Rochelle | 79,367 |
40 | Ridgefield | 11,209 |
41 | Sleepy Hollow | 10,089 |
42 | Wallington | 11,553 |
43 | Stamford | 130,057 |
44 | Jersey City | 262,652 |
45 | Freeport | 42,993 |
46 | Garfield | 31,722 |
47 | Mount Kisco | 10,949 |
48 | New York | 8,379,552 |
49 | Lincoln Park | 10,220 |
50 | Harriman | 2,996 |
51 | Ridgefield Park | 12,928 |
52 | Airmont | 8,771 |
53 | Roselle Park | 13,574 |
54 | White Plains | 58,171 |
55 | Chestnut Ridge | 8,041 |
56 | East Rutherford | 9,707 |
57 | Palisades Park | 20,693 |
58 | New Square | 8,589 |
59 | Glen Cove | 27,172 |
60 | Pompton Lakes | 10,998 |
61 | Boonton | 8,510 |
62 | Wanaque | 11,719 |
63 | Ossining | 24,966 |
64 | Sloatsburg | 3,114 |
65 | Kaser | 5,367 |
66 | Suffern | 10,945 |
67 | Secaucus | 20,667 |
68 | North Arlington | 15,681 |
69 | North Haledon | 8,425 |
70 | Cliffside Park | 25,410 |
71 | Hasbrouck Heights | 12,026 |
72 | Manorhaven | 6,725 |
73 | Ringwood | 12,229 |
74 | Bergenfield | 27,375 |
75 | Totowa | 10,810 |
76 | Buchanan | 2,274 |
77 | Carlstadt | 6,158 |
78 | Highland Falls | 3,826 |
79 | Pomona | 3,058 |
80 | Island Park | 4,835 |
81 | Maywood | 9,626 |
82 | Butler | 7,669 |
83 | New Milford | 16,477 |
84 | Mamaroneck | 19,247 |
85 | Bogota | 8,375 |
86 | Fort Lee | 37,843 |
87 | Northvale | 4,911 |
88 | Dumont | 17,598 |
89 | East Rockaway | 9,810 |
90 | Westbury | 15,339 |
91 | Pleasantville | 7,256 |
92 | Riverdale | 4,179 |
93 | Rye Brook | 9,554 |
94 | Hawthorne | 18,762 |
95 | Valley Stream | 37,489 |
96 | Rutherford | 18,376 |
97 | Harrison | 28,363 |
98 | Great Neck | 10,172 |
99 | Leonia | 9,059 |
100 | Montvale | 8,538 |