More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Aurora to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Aurora are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Aurora ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Aurora area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Aurora proper, although Western Springs certainly tries.
We examined the 142 biggest suburbs of Aurora to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Illinois lists, these places are a little too far downwind of Aurora in terms of quality of life.
$59,135 median income · $210,235 median home price
We’ll get the ball rolling with Rockdale, the absolute worst place to live around Aurora according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Rockdale beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 4th worst in the Aurora area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 3rd 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 Rockdale.
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.
$85,250 median income · $293,408 median home price
Welcome to Sheridan. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 25.8 miles to Aurora. Income levels here are the 4lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $85,250 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.
$46,481 median income · $222,143 median home price
Located in
DeKalb County, Illinois
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Aurora suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see DeKalb 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 Aurora suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$56,288 median income · $262,274 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
If you live in Worth, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 2nd lowest Aurora suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 7th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Aurora. Remember, we looked at 142 cities for this study.
Worth is about 26.2 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$66,655 median income · $301,888 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Bridgeview has the distinction of being a Aurora suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Bridgeview has the 30th lowest home values in the metro Aurora area, where the median price is $301,888. The median income is $250,001.
Bridgeview has an unemployment rate of 7.6% which ranks 14th worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$68,815 median income · $242,540 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Maywood has 23,201 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 15.5%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$66,585 median income · $259,721 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Ah, Alsip. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Aurora.
It’s the place with the 5th most out of work residents in the Aurora metro area (8.9%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$61,863 median income · $266,478 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Summit is a city about 24.6 miles from Aurora, but Aurora 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. Summit has the 7th most uninsured people, 6th worst incomes, and has the 42nd highest unemployment rate (5.5%) in the entire Aurora metro area.
Homes only cost $266,478 for a reason. That’s cheap for Aurora standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$75,752 median income · $190,501 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
If you absolutely have to live near Aurora, then Crestwood might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Aurora suburb.
About 8.2% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$67,224 median income · $257,475 median home price
Rounding out the ten worst Aurora suburbs to call home is Stone Park.
Located 23.2 miles outside the city, Stone Park is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 35th highest unemployment rate (5.7%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Illinois’s statewide median.
Illinois statewide median: $83,390
Illinois statewide median: $285,736
Illinois statewide median: 5.8%
Illinois statewide median: 11.8%
On the map
Where the worst Aurora suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Aurora for 2026
To figure out how bad a Aurora 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 Aurora.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 142 suburbs to evaluate around Aurora.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 142 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 Aurora.” We’re looking at you, Rockdale.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Aurora.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Aurora Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockdale | 13.43 | 2,553 | $59,135 | $210,235 |
| 2 | Sheridan | 21.86 | 2,519 | $85,250 | $293,408 |
| 3 | DeKalb | 23.14 | 40,443 | $46,481 | $222,143 |
| 4 | Worth | 25.36 | 10,700 | $56,288 | $262,274 |
| 5 | Bridgeview | 26.00 | 16,849 | $66,655 | $301,888 |
| 6 | Maywood | 28.36 | 23,201 | $68,815 | $242,540 |
| 7 | Alsip | 30.36 | 18,583 | $66,585 | $259,721 |
| 8 | Summit | 30.86 | 10,846 | $61,863 | $266,478 |
| 9 | Crestwood | 31.07 | 10,579 | $75,752 | $190,501 |
| 10 | Stone Park | 31.71 | 4,482 | $67,224 | $257,475 |
| 11 | Justice | 31.79 | 12,324 | $57,170 | $289,465 |
| 12 | West Chicago | 32.14 | 25,395 | $99,927 | $380,371 |
| 13 | Melrose Park | 32.43 | 24,549 | $66,189 | $306,639 |
| 14 | Franklin Park | 32.71 | 18,197 | $76,519 | $309,736 |
| 15 | Crest Hill | 33.43 | 20,628 | $73,033 | $278,922 |
| 16 | Cicero | 34.14 | 82,797 | $70,842 | $264,526 |
| 17 | Broadview | 35.43 | 7,896 | $64,697 | $265,075 |
| 18 | Northlake | 35.43 | 12,513 | $83,892 | $295,901 |
| 19 | Burbank | 36.43 | 28,739 | $80,116 | $302,038 |
| 20 | Cortland | 36.43 | 4,564 | $73,971 | $286,829 |
| 21 | Lyons | 36.57 | 10,339 | $70,993 | $267,992 |
| 22 | Joliet | 36.86 | 150,445 | $92,201 | $259,875 |
| 23 | Chicago Ridge | 36.93 | 14,099 | $68,964 | $222,482 |
| 24 | Elgin | 38.07 | 114,934 | $90,282 | $329,682 |
| 25 | Bellwood | 39.07 | 18,256 | $79,513 | $242,552 |
| 26 | Bensenville | 39.71 | 18,603 | $79,515 | $342,928 |
| 27 | Carpentersville | 40.00 | 37,346 | $86,917 | $285,617 |
| 28 | Rosemont | 40.43 | 3,290 | $63,517 | $375,624 |
| 29 | Countryside | 42.36 | 6,267 | $80,968 | $374,268 |
| 30 | Stickney | 42.79 | 6,952 | $66,942 | $286,404 |
| 31 | Berwyn | 43.50 | 55,595 | $78,408 | $307,059 |
| 32 | Plano | 44.21 | 12,203 | $86,271 | $304,557 |
| 33 | Glendale Heights | 44.71 | 32,808 | $86,545 | $319,772 |
| 34 | Hickory Hills | 44.79 | 14,526 | $77,262 | $325,811 |
| 35 | Hanover Park | 46.43 | 36,732 | $91,763 | $321,958 |
| 36 | Hillside | 47.43 | 8,084 | $72,320 | $278,961 |
| 37 | Addison | 49.29 | 35,489 | $90,431 | $372,968 |
| 38 | River Grove | 49.57 | 10,451 | $69,858 | $300,774 |
| 39 | Palos Hills | 51.00 | 18,081 | $83,533 | $280,022 |
| 40 | Berkeley | 51.43 | 5,199 | $85,823 | $292,137 |
| 41 | Romeoville | 53.71 | 41,152 | $106,325 | $313,582 |
| 42 | Hinckley | 54.14 | 2,331 | $86,823 | $342,268 |
| 43 | Forest Park | 54.71 | 13,943 | $77,221 | $272,765 |
| 44 | Bolingbrook | 55.71 | 74,096 | $108,400 | $363,758 |
| 45 | Oak Lawn | 55.79 | 56,861 | $83,911 | $282,758 |
| 46 | Sandwich | 56.79 | 7,219 | $80,768 | $319,505 |
| 47 | Rolling Meadows | 56.86 | 24,027 | $98,514 | $322,644 |
| 48 | East Dundee | 57.43 | 3,146 | $89,583 | $309,811 |
| 49 | Elmwood Park | 57.57 | 23,868 | $91,955 | $338,383 |
| 50 | Warrenville | 57.71 | 14,718 | $100,321 | $352,076 |
| 51 | Norridge | 58.71 | 15,439 | $87,807 | $405,485 |
| 52 | Morris | 59.21 | 14,898 | $76,711 | $307,718 |
| 53 | Wood Dale | 60.71 | 13,933 | $91,382 | $347,554 |
| 54 | Streamwood | 60.71 | 39,001 | $101,218 | $321,982 |
| 55 | Oak Forest | 62.14 | 26,805 | $91,990 | $287,163 |
| 56 | Schiller Park | 63.29 | 11,393 | $69,696 | $305,084 |
| 57 | Hoffman Estates | 64.14 | 51,175 | $106,806 | $394,618 |
| 58 | Des Plaines | 64.93 | 59,156 | $97,875 | $339,855 |
| 59 | Oakbrook Terrace | 65.07 | 2,723 | $76,905 | $417,654 |
| 60 | Hometown | 66.36 | 4,215 | $61,101 | $205,832 |
| 61 | Elwood | 66.64 | 2,001 | $86,458 | $315,019 |
| 62 | North Aurora | 67.93 | 18,696 | $114,305 | $395,208 |
| 63 | Indian Head Park | 68.29 | 3,974 | $100,149 | $355,707 |
| 64 | Palatine | 69.64 | 66,293 | $97,819 | $375,855 |
| 65 | Hampshire | 69.79 | 8,524 | $94,773 | $407,967 |
| 66 | North Riverside | 71.29 | 7,249 | $77,170 | $340,577 |
| 67 | Willowbrook | 71.57 | 9,131 | $99,239 | $322,190 |
| 68 | Sycamore | 71.71 | 18,559 | $84,120 | $313,784 |
| 69 | Montgomery | 71.86 | 21,515 | $103,734 | $325,542 |
| 70 | Orland Park | 72.00 | 57,916 | $98,910 | $397,472 |
| 71 | Woodridge | 72.93 | 33,941 | $101,000 | $404,092 |
| 72 | Villa Park | 73.14 | 22,345 | $95,015 | $354,427 |
| 73 | Willow Springs | 73.21 | 5,868 | $103,583 | $386,669 |
| 74 | Channahon | 73.93 | 13,927 | $119,494 | $374,127 |
| 75 | Palos Park | 74.57 | 4,816 | $121,696 | $530,826 |
| 76 | Tinley Park | 74.71 | 54,842 | $105,189 | $324,474 |
| 77 | Carol Stream | 75.36 | 39,460 | $102,309 | $377,328 |
| 78 | Huntley | 77.14 | 28,005 | $88,536 | $417,547 |
| 79 | Westmont | 77.29 | 23,724 | $88,090 | $400,412 |
| 80 | Lake in the Hills | 77.71 | 28,800 | $117,151 | $369,917 |
| 81 | Roselle | 77.93 | 22,752 | $111,318 | $374,678 |
| 82 | Harwood Heights | 78.21 | 8,821 | $81,086 | $377,397 |
| 83 | Mount Prospect | 78.64 | 55,472 | $101,720 | $433,814 |
| 84 | South Elgin | 79.07 | 24,217 | $127,203 | $366,632 |
| 85 | Bloomingdale | 80.79 | 22,457 | $102,928 | $428,844 |
| 86 | Schaumburg | 81.00 | 76,868 | $97,514 | $349,953 |
| 87 | Westchester | 81.00 | 16,436 | $98,954 | $357,237 |
| 88 | Lockport | 82.07 | 26,409 | $111,981 | $360,599 |
| 89 | Yorkville | 83.57 | 23,617 | $108,513 | $399,862 |
| 90 | Lombard | 83.71 | 43,619 | $100,362 | $380,912 |
| 91 | Sleepy Hollow | 83.86 | 3,161 | $149,813 | $460,164 |
| 92 | Shorewood | 84.14 | 18,343 | $122,105 | $403,278 |
| 93 | Orland Hills | 85.07 | 6,719 | $122,039 | $327,784 |
| 94 | Minooka | 85.43 | 12,891 | $115,445 | $364,409 |
| 95 | Sugar Grove | 85.57 | 9,240 | $121,207 | $445,737 |
| 96 | St. Charles | 86.43 | 32,854 | $114,300 | $463,142 |
| 97 | Lisle | 87.36 | 23,407 | $107,479 | $425,025 |
| 98 | Homer Glen | 87.64 | 24,529 | $136,678 | $505,179 |
| 99 | Oak Brook | 87.79 | 8,056 | $175,870 | $966,776 |
| 100 | Itasca | 88.71 | 9,355 | $114,294 | $443,025 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 142 suburbs within 30 miles of Aurora.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Aurora where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Aurora with Rockdale casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Aurora are Rockdale, Sheridan, DeKalb, Worth, Bridgeview, Maywood, Alsip, Summit, Crestwood, and Stone Park.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Aurora aren’t all bad. Western Springs takes the cake as the best place to live around Aurora. Not sold on Illinois? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Aurora FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Aurora?
Rockdale ranks as the worst suburb around Aurora for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Sheridan and DeKalb are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Aurora?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Aurora are Rockdale, Sheridan, DeKalb, Worth, Bridgeview, Maywood, Alsip, Summit, Crestwood, and Stone Park. We scored all 142 places within 30 miles.
Why does Rockdale rank as the worst suburb?
Rockdale posts the roughest combined numbers of the 142 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $59,135, a median home value of $210,235, and a poverty rate of 25.8%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Aurora?
Western Springs lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Aurora by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Aurora 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.
