The 10 Worst Boston Suburbs

The 10 Worst Boston Suburbs To Live For 2025

We’ll get the ball rolling with Lawrence, the absolute worst place to live around Boston according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Lawrence beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Boston area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 5th 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 Lawrence.

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.

Welcome to Brockton. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 17.2 miles to Boston. Income levels here are the 6th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $77,089 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.

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Boston suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Chelsea 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 Boston suburbs.

But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

If you live in Lowell, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Boston suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 13th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Boston. Remember, we looked at 24 cities for this study.

Lowell is about 26.2 miles to downtown.

Taunton has the distinction of being a Boston suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Taunton has the 6th lowest home values in the metro Boston area, where the median price is $502,610. The median income is $184,989.

Taunton has an unemployment rate of 5.61% which ranks 10th worst.

Southfield has 76,025 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 11.23293921865983%.

Ah, Everett. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Boston.

It’s the place with the 12th most out of work residents in the Boston metro area (5.37%).

Lynn is a city about 10.3 miles from Boston, but Boston 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. Lynn has the 6th most uninsured people, 4th worst incomes, and has the 16th highest unemployment rate (4.62%) in the entire Boston metro area.

Homes only cost $575,786 for a reason. That’s cheap for Boston standards.

If you absolutely have to live near Boston, then Revere might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Boston suburb.

About 7.15% of residents are out of work.

Rounding out the ten worst Boston suburbs to call home is Marlborough.

Located 26.9 miles outside the city, Marlboroughs is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 11th highest unemployment rate (5.58%), and poverty is far above the area average.