More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Miami to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Miami are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Miami ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Miami area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Miami proper, although Key Biscayne certainly tries.
We examined the 47 biggest suburbs of Miami to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Florida lists, these places are a little too far downwind of Miami in terms of quality of life.
$52,748 median income · $326,898 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
We’ll get the ball rolling with Dania Beach, the absolute worst place to live around Miami according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Dania Beach beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 5th worst in the Miami area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 6th 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 Dania Beach.
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.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$37,532 median income · $468,451 median home price
Located in
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Welcome to Opa-locka. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 9.1 miles to Miami. Income levels here are the lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $37,532 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$50,006 median income · $140,910 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Miami suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Lauderdale Lakes 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 dropout rate is poor compared to other Miami suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$51,165 median income · $213,844 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
If you live in Lauderhill, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 3rd lowest Miami suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 5th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Miami. Remember, we looked at 47 cities for this study.
Lauderhill is about 26.7 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$57,188 median income · $416,688 median home price
Located in
Miami-Dade County, Florida
North Miami has the distinction of being a Miami suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, North Miami has the 10th lowest home values in the metro Miami area, where the median price is $416,688. The median income is $206,417.
North Miami has an unemployment rate of 6.0% which ranks 9th worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$52,928 median income · $246,080 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
Pembroke Park has 6,360 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 26.8%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$65,423 median income · $436,669 median home price
Located in
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Ah, Homestead. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Miami.
It’s the place with the 3most out of work residents in the Miami metro area (4.0%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$65,952 median income · $422,622 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
West Park is a city about 14.2 miles from Miami, but Miami probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. West Park has the 6th most uninsured people, 17th worst incomes, and has the 4th highest unemployment rate (8.7%) in the entire Miami metro area.
Homes only cost $422,622 for a reason. That’s cheap for Miami standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$63,627 median income · $469,434 median home price
Located in
Miami-Dade County, Florida
If you absolutely have to live near Miami, then Miami Gardens might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Miami suburb.
About 9.0% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$52,340 median income · $292,053 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
Rounding out the ten worst Miami suburbs to call home is Hallandale Beach.
Located 14.8 miles outside the city, Hallandale Beach is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 7th highest unemployment rate (7.5%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Florida’s statewide median.
Florida statewide median: $74,568
Florida statewide median: $375,662
Florida statewide median: 4.8%
Florida statewide median: 12.6%
On the map
Where the worst Miami suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Miami for 2026
To figure out how bad a Miami suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2020-2024, 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 dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Miami.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 47 suburbs to evaluate around Miami.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 47 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 Miami.” We’re looking at you, Dania Beach.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Miami.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Miami Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dania Beach | 8.57 | 32,180 | $52,748 | $326,898 |
| 2 | Opa-locka | 8.86 | 16,282 | $37,532 | $468,451 |
| 3 | Lauderdale Lakes | 9.29 | 36,404 | $50,006 | $140,910 |
| 4 | Lauderhill | 11.14 | 74,896 | $51,165 | $213,844 |
| 5 | North Miami | 11.71 | 60,344 | $57,188 | $416,688 |
| 6 | Pembroke Park | 12.43 | 6,360 | $52,928 | $246,080 |
| 7 | Homestead | 12.71 | 82,807 | $65,423 | $436,669 |
| 8 | West Park | 13.14 | 15,249 | $65,952 | $422,622 |
| 9 | Miami Gardens | 14.00 | 113,177 | $63,627 | $469,434 |
| 10 | Hallandale Beach | 14.71 | 41,854 | $52,340 | $292,053 |
| 11 | North Miami Beach | 15.86 | 43,898 | $63,280 | $447,840 |
| 12 | Hollywood | 16.14 | 155,082 | $67,203 | $439,400 |
| 13 | Oakland Park | 16.36 | 44,682 | $72,708 | $366,517 |
| 14 | Sweetwater | 16.64 | 20,085 | $54,967 | $438,052 |
| 15 | Hialeah | 17.36 | 226,165 | $55,594 | $443,804 |
| 16 | Tamarac | 18.29 | 73,019 | $61,718 | $295,512 |
| 17 | Fort Lauderdale | 19.71 | 185,604 | $83,130 | $508,474 |
| 18 | Hialeah Gardens | 20.14 | 22,915 | $65,439 | $416,365 |
| 19 | Sunrise | 21.00 | 97,918 | $77,652 | $360,656 |
| 20 | Cooper | 21.93 | 2,220 | $76,000 | $456,392 |
| 21 | Davie | 22.21 | 108,346 | $87,250 | $515,020 |
| 22 | Miami Beach | 23.50 | 82,031 | $72,856 | $515,965 |
| 23 | Cutler Bay | 23.86 | 45,070 | $89,244 | $564,584 |
| 24 | West Miami | 25.00 | 7,162 | $61,274 | $662,496 |
| 25 | Miramar | 26.14 | 138,600 | $89,125 | $518,019 |
| 26 | Islandia | 26.43 | 3,600 | $116,313 | $614,891 |
| 27 | Biscayne Park | 26.93 | 3,085 | $77,083 | $927,080 |
| 28 | Doral | 27.00 | 79,216 | $94,164 | $549,014 |
| 29 | Pembroke Pines | 27.79 | 173,194 | $85,104 | $487,422 |
| 30 | Wilton Manors | 27.93 | 11,511 | $85,392 | $576,125 |
| 31 | Bal Harbour | 28.21 | 3,055 | $80,806 | $1,942,193 |
| 32 | Sunny Isles Beach | 28.50 | 22,437 | $61,921 | $649,891 |
| 33 | Florida | 28.57 | 2,893 | $123,250 | $461,427 |
| 34 | Virginia Gardens | 29.50 | 2,423 | $70,469 | $600,367 |
| 35 | Miami Springs | 29.57 | 13,726 | $87,099 | $729,504 |
| 36 | Aventura | 29.71 | 39,885 | $89,274 | $425,757 |
| 37 | South Miami | 31.57 | 12,277 | $94,507 | $867,893 |
| 38 | Miami Shores | 33.00 | 11,752 | $144,050 | $735,780 |
| 39 | Weston | 34.43 | 68,837 | $139,825 | $730,059 |
| 40 | Miami Lakes | 34.57 | 31,553 | $101,557 | $653,606 |
| 41 | Coral Gables | 35.00 | 49,802 | $134,216 | $1,516,825 |
| 42 | Surfside | 35.43 | 5,631 | $100,208 | $1,276,757 |
| 43 | Palmetto Bay | 35.79 | 24,639 | $142,447 | $920,528 |
| 44 | Bay Harbor Islands | 37.00 | 5,847 | $89,663 | $660,038 |
| 45 | Southwest Ranches | 37.21 | 7,656 | $161,051 | $1,437,706 |
| 46 | Pinecrest | 39.50 | 18,462 | $206,417 | $2,172,519 |
| 47 | Key Biscayne | 43.64 | 14,791 | $181,505 | $1,658,764 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 47 suburbs within 30 miles of Miami.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Miami where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Miami with Dania Beach casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Miami are Dania Beach, Opa-locka, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, North Miami, Pembroke Park, Homestead, West Park, Miami Gardens, and Hallandale Beach.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Miami aren’t all bad. Key Biscayne takes the cake as the best place to live around Miami. Not sold on Florida? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Miami FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Miami?
Dania Beach ranks as the worst suburb around Miami for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Opa-locka and Lauderdale Lakes are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Miami?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Miami are Dania Beach, Opa-locka, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, North Miami, Pembroke Park, Homestead, West Park, Miami Gardens, and Hallandale Beach. We scored all 47 places within 30 miles.
Why does Dania Beach rank as the worst suburb?
Dania Beach posts the roughest combined numbers of the 47 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $52,748, a median home value of $326,898, and a poverty rate of 19.3%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Miami?
Key Biscayne lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Miami by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Miami list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
