US City rankings
Worst Cities in the United States
Yazoo City, MS ranks 1st on Worst City Ranking (USA Today), followed by Donaldsonville, LA (2nd) and Fair Oaks, GA (3rd); rank 1 is the worst. Piney Green, NC ranks last (50th).
CultureEconomicsHealth115 cities · 12 metricsUpdated Oct 28, 2026Original page
5 sources
- America’s 50 Worst Cities to Live - 247 Wall St.
- The Best (and Worst) Places to Live in 2025, According to Americans - Clever Offers
- City Crime Rankings - Open Crime
- Measuring America's People and Economy - United States Census Bureau
- Worst city to live in? These are considered 50 of the least desirable places in America - USA Today
49 of 477 cities
Worst City Ranking (USA Today)
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All 49 ranked
Worst first; rank 1 is the worst and has the longest bar.
Data
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49 cities · # = rank by Worst City Ranking (USA Today)
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Yazoo City, MS | 1st | According to the Census, unemployment in Yazoo City stands at 20.7%, well more than triple the comparable 5.9% national rate. |
| 2 |  Donaldsonville, LA | 2nd | The city's 14.3% five year unemployment rate is well more than double the comparable U.S. unemployment rate. |
| 3 |  Fair Oaks, GA | 3rd | For many in Fair Oaks, food insecurity is worsened by poverty. |
| 4 | Irondale, GA | 5th | In Irondale, Georgia and across the broader county, there were 498.1 violent crimes for every 100,000 people in 2018. |
| 5 |  Poinciana, FL | 6th | The average commute time in Poinciana is about 44 minutes, well above the 27 minute national average. |
| 6 |  Golden Valley, AZ | 7th | The poverty rate in Golden Valley stands at 24.1%, well above the comparable 14.1% national poverty rate. |
| 7 | Conyers, GA | 8th | As is the case in many cities on this list, the homeownership rate in Conyers is low, standing at just 28.8%, well below the 63.8% national rate. |
| 8 |  La Homa, TX | 9th | Over the last five years, the number of people living in La Homa declined by 14.5%. |
| 9 | Shady Hills, FL | 10th | From 2015 to 2017, there were an annual average of 29.7 drug poisoning deaths per year in the community for every 100,000 people, well above the 20 per 100,000 national fatal overdose rate. |
| 10 | Silver Springs Shores, FL | 11th | The nearest hospital to Silver Springs Shores is nearly 10 miles away. |
| 11 | Beverly Hills, FL | 12th | Florida. In Beverly Hills, the typical home is worth just $69,800, about one-third the value of the typical home nationwide. |
| 12 |  Laurinburg, NC | 13th | The city's unemployment rate of 14.2% is more than double the comparable 5.9% national rate. |
| 13 |  Berea, SC | 14th | An estimated 72% of Berea residents live at least a mile from the nearest grocery store in urban areas and at least 10 miles in rural areas. |
| 14 | Micco, FL | 15th | Not only are incomes low in the town, but it also has a high cost of living, meaning a dollar does not go as far as it might elsewhere. |
| 15 | Lancaster, SC | 16th | As is the case in many cities and towns on this list, places for physical exercise like parks or recreation centers are relatively scarce in Lancaster. |
| 16 | Immokalee, FL | 17th | Goods and services are 8.5% more expensive in Immokalee than they are nationwide on average. |
| 17 |  Chaparral, NM | 18th | The nearest hospital from the center of Chaparral is 11 miles away. |
| 18 | Buenaventura Lakes, FL | 19th | An estimated 82% of residents live in low access areas, meaning they live at least a mile from the nearest grocery store in urban areas and at least 10 miles in rural areas. |
| 19 | Douglas, AZ | 20th | In Douglas, the population contracted by 4.8% in the last five years. |
| 20 | Robstown, TX | 21st | Robstown's poverty rate is a staggering 41.1%. |
| 21 |  Phelan, CA | 22nd | For many area residents, it may take longer than average to obtain emergency medical services as the closest hospital is over 13 miles from the center of town. |
| 22 | Winton, CA | 23rd | About one in every four Winton residents live below the poverty line. |
| 23 | Lawrenceville, GA | 24th | Goods and services in the county are about 6% more expensive on average than they are nationwide. |
| 24 | Avon Park, FL | 25th | According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.9% of Avon Park's labor force are unemployed, more than double the 5.9% national five year unemployment rate. |
| 25 | Brooksville, FL | 26th | Brooksville's weak job market is one of the reasons the city ranks among the worst places to live. |
| 26 | Stockbridge, GA | 27th | The area's low income residents face some additional financial strain due to a slightly higher cost of living. |
| 27 |  Bessemer, AL | 28th | The majority of households in the city have an income of less than $32,000 a year, and nearly 14% of households live on less than $10,000 a year. |
| 28 | Perry, GA | 29th | Access to fresh and healthy food in the area is limited for many by income, as 18.9% of the population live below the poverty line, well above the 14.1% national poverty rate. |
| 29 |  Coatesville, PA | 30th | In Coatesville, the homeownership rate stands at just 38.0%, well below the 63.8% national rate. |
| 30 | Earlimart, CA | 31st | There are far fewer places like restaurants, bars, and gyms on a per capita basis in the town than there are nationwide. |
| 31 | Bacliff, TX | 32nd | Most households have an income of less than $40,000 a year, and 23.3% of the population live below the poverty line. |
| 32 | Arizona City, AZ | 33rd | Arizona City residents are far more likely than most Americans to have to travel long distances to get to the nearest grocery store. |
| 33 | Artesia, NM | 34th | A relatively large share of Artesia residents may struggle to obtain fresh, healthy food. |
| 34 | Lehigh Acres, FL | 35th | The unemployment rate in Lehigh Acres is 6.9%, a full percentage point higher than the national rate. |
| 35 |  Makaha, HI | 36th | Goods and services in the town are 61.4% more expensive than they are nationwide on average. |
| 36 | Lakeland Village, CA | 37th | The average commute time in Lakeland Village is about 40 minutes, well above the 27 minute national average. |
| 37 |  Pahrump, NV | 38th | There were 38 drug deaths for every 100,000 people in the area between 2015 and 2017 compared to the national overdose death rate of 20 per 100,000. |
| 38 | Atmore, AL | 39th | Atmore also appears to have been affected more than most cities nationwide by the opioid epidemic. |
| 39 |  Denison, IA | 40th | A high school education is a basic prerequisite for most jobs, and in Denison, only 63.3% of adults have a high school diploma, a far smaller share than the 87.7% of adults nationwide. |
| 40 | DeRidder, LA | 41st | The city's poverty rate of 23.6% is well above the comparable 14.1% national rate. |
| 41 | Lithia Springs, GA | 42nd | Lithia Springs has a smaller than average concentration of places like restaurants, bars, and fitness and recreation centers. |
| 42 | Bay St. Louis, MS | 43rd | Bay St. Louis residents are also more likely than most Americans to lead sedentary lives. Some 35.6% of area adults get no exercise beyond going to work. |
| 43 | Augusta, GA | 44th | More than one out of every 10 workers in the area are unemployed, and more than one in every five residents live below the poverty line. |
| 44 |  Middletown, OH | 45th | Middletown is a relatively poor area, with a majority of households earning less than $40,000 a year and 11.5% earning less than $10,000. |
| 45 | Moss Point, MS | 46th | Moss Point has a median annual household income of just $38,210, well below the national median of $60,293. |
| 46 | Greenville, MS | 47th | The number of people living in the city declined by 7.7% in the last five years. |
| 47 | West Pensacola, FL | 48th | Unemployment is widespread in the area as 11.6% of West Pensacola's labor force is unemployed, nearly double the comparable national five-year unemployment rate. |
| 48 | Oskaloosa, IA | 49th | In Oskaloosa, the typical home is worth just $96,700, less than half the national median of $204,900. |
| 49 | Piney Green, NC | 50th | Piney Green appears to be lacking in public transit options as 0% workers use it public transit for commuting, according to the census. |
What correlates with Worst City Ranking (USA Today)?
Pearson r against 9 other city metrics sharing at least 30 cities. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that rank better on Worst City Ranking (USA Today) tend to score higher on these
Quick answers
- Which US city ranks first on Worst City Ranking (USA Today)?
- Yazoo City, MS ranks first on Worst City Ranking (USA Today), at 1st, followed by Donaldsonville, LA (2nd) and Fair Oaks, GA (3rd). Rank 1 is the worst US city.
- Which US city ranks last on Worst City Ranking (USA Today)?
- Piney Green, NC ranks last of the 49 US cities with data, at 50th.
- Where does this worst cities in the united states data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: America’s 50 Worst Cities to Live - 247 Wall St.; The Best (and Worst) Places to Live in 2025, According to Americans - Clever Offers; City Crime Rankings - Open Crime; Measuring America's People and Economy - United States Census Bureau. Last updated 2026-10-28.