These Are The 10 Worst Sacramento Suburbs

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Sacramento conjures up images of tons of things to do, quality people, and a bustling economy. The region consistently ranks as one of the best places to live across the country.

But not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Sacramento.

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 Sacramento ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Sacramento area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Sacramento proper, although Gold River certainly tries.

We examined the 32 biggest suburbs of Sacramento to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t find them on the worst places to live in California, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Sacramento in terms of quality of life:

Lemon Hill
North Highlands
Rio Linda
Florin
Rancho Cordova
Rosemont
Foothill Farms
Elverta
Citrus Heights
Parkway

Read on to see how we determined the places around Sacramento that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger. And once you’re done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of worst to best.

How we determined the worst Sacramento ‘burbs

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 Census’s most recent 2010-2014 American Community Survey, this is the criteria we used:

Low unemployment (Less jobs)
Low median income (Less pay)
Low population density (No things to do)
Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
High number of high school drop outs

Then, we ranked each place that have over 5,000 people around Sacramento for each of these criteria from worst to best.

The place with the lowest average rankings for these criteria ranks as the worst suburb of Sacramento.

Read on below to learn more about these terrible places around Sacramento to live. Or skip to the end to see the list of all 32 suburbs ranked from worst to best.

This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Snarkiness incorporated for entertainment purposes only. Hold on to your pants.

1. Lemon Hill

Source: Google Maps

Population: 12,767Median Income: $27,101
Median Home Value: $101,800

2. North Highlands

Source: Google Maps

Population: 44,899Median Income: $40,986
Median Home Value: $146,500

3. Rio Linda

Source: Google Maps

Population: 14,581Median Income: $50,873
Median Home Value: $174,100

4. Florin

Source: Google Maps

Population: 50,791Median Income: $40,183
Median Home Value: $143,800

5. Rancho Cordova

Source: Flickr

Population: 67,167Median Income: $53,563
Median Home Value: $195,600

6. Rosemont

Source: Google Maps

Population: 22,824Median Income: $54,384
Median Home Value: $184,500

7. Foothill Farms

Source: Google Maps

Population: 33,024Median Income: $44,590
Median Home Value: $158,600

8. Elverta

Source: Google Maps

Population: 5,547Median Income: $60,718
Median Home Value: $176,200

9. Citrus Heights

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 84,678Median Income: $51,150
Median Home Value: $191,100

10. Parkway

Source: Google Maps

Population: 14,756Median Income: $33,959
Median Home Value: $151,300

The areas around Sacramento that you probably don’t want to live in

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Sacramento with Lemon Hill landing ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Sacramento aren’t all bad. Gold River takes the cake as the best place to live around Sacramento.

Detailed List Of Sacramento Suburbs

Place	Rank	Population	Median Income	Median Home Value
Lemon Hill	1	12,767	$27,101	$101,800
North Highlands	2	44,899	$40,986	$146,500
Rio Linda	3	14,581	$50,873	$174,100
Florin	4	50,791	$40,183	$143,800
Rancho Cordova	5	67,167	$53,563	$195,600
Rosemont	6	22,824	$54,384	$184,500
Foothill Farms	7	33,024	$44,590	$158,600
Elverta	8	5,547	$60,718	$176,200
Citrus Heights	9	84,678	$51,150	$191,100
Parkway	10	14,756	$33,959	$151,300
Diamond Springs	11	12,105	$52,483	$235,100
Carmichael	12	63,314	$54,598	$282,400
Fruitridge Pocket	13	5,802	$32,853	$106,800
Mather	14	4,806	$86,705	$262,200
West Sacramento	15	49,946	$53,307	$248,000
Arden-Arcade	16	92,844	$45,750	$279,500
La Riviera	17	11,529	$58,694	$208,300
Cameron Park	18	18,831	$74,690	$336,900
Orangevale	19	34,449	$65,288	$262,000
Vineyard	20	25,640	$76,084	$266,000
Antelope	21	47,798	$64,122	$212,000
Fair Oaks	22	31,256	$73,295	$350,000
Granite Bay	23	22,646	$118,063	$608,500
Elk Grove	24	158,455	$79,051	$269,600
Lincoln	25	44,397	$70,870	$328,300
Roseville	26	124,250	$76,712	$317,800
Rocklin	27	59,002	$79,274	$336,900
Loomis	28	6,589	$82,813	$288,800
Shingle Springs	29	4,562	$82,788	$403,500
Folsom	30	73,334	$100,163	$393,600
El Dorado Hills	31	43,862	$118,306	$472,000
Gold River	32	7,658	$102,500	$381,800

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Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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