More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Fort Lauderdale to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Fort Lauderdale are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Fort Lauderdale ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Fort Lauderdale area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Fort Lauderdale proper, although Highland Beach certainly tries.
We examined the 53 biggest suburbs of Fort Lauderdale 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 Fort Lauderdale 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 Fort Lauderdale 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 Fort Lauderdale area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 10th 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
$50,006 median income · $140,910 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
Welcome to Lauderdale Lakes. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 3.8 miles to Fort Lauderdale. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $50,006 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
$37,532 median income · $468,451 median home price
Located in
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Fort Lauderdale suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Opa-locka 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 Fort Lauderdale suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$67,195 median income · $351,517 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
If you live in Pompano Beach, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 2lowest Fort Lauderdale suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 8th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Fort Lauderdale. Remember, we looked at 53 cities for this study.
Pompano Beach is about 7.0 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$51,165 median income · $213,844 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
Lauderhill has the distinction of being a Fort Lauderdale suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Lauderhill has the 2nd lowest home values in the metro Fort Lauderdale area, where the median price is $213,844. The median income is $198,669.
Lauderhill has an unemployment rate of 8.5% which ranks 6th 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
$78,214 median income · $302,879 median home price
Ah, Hypoluxo. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Fort Lauderdale.
It’s the place with the most out of work residents in the Fort Lauderdale metro area (25.3%).
$59,730 median income · $273,229 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
Deerfield Beach is a city about 11.8 miles from Fort Lauderdale, but Fort Lauderdale 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. Deerfield Beach has the 10th most uninsured people, 10th worst incomes, and has the 22nd highest unemployment rate (5.4%) in the entire Fort Lauderdale metro area.
Homes only cost $273,229 for a reason. That’s cheap for Fort Lauderdale standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$57,188 median income · $416,688 median home price
Located in
Miami-Dade County, Florida
If you absolutely have to live near Fort Lauderdale, then North Miami might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Fort Lauderdale suburb.
About 6.0% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$65,952 median income · $422,622 median home price
Located in
Broward County, Florida
Rounding out the ten worst Fort Lauderdale suburbs to call home is West Park.
Located 11.4 miles outside the city, West Park is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 5th highest unemployment rate (8.7%), 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 Fort Lauderdale suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Fort Lauderdale for 2026
To figure out how bad a Fort Lauderdale 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 Fort Lauderdale.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 53 suburbs to evaluate around Fort Lauderdale.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 53 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 Fort Lauderdale.” We’re looking at you, Dania Beach.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Fort Lauderdale.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Fort Lauderdale Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dania Beach | 9.71 | 32,180 | $52,748 | $326,898 |
| 2 | Lauderdale Lakes | 10.57 | 36,404 | $50,006 | $140,910 |
| 3 | Opa-locka | 10.57 | 16,282 | $37,532 | $468,451 |
| 4 | Pompano Beach | 12.43 | 114,147 | $67,195 | $351,517 |
| 5 | Lauderhill | 12.86 | 74,896 | $51,165 | $213,844 |
| 6 | Pembroke Park | 13.86 | 6,360 | $52,928 | $246,080 |
| 7 | Hypoluxo | 14.00 | 2,798 | $78,214 | $302,879 |
| 8 | Deerfield Beach | 14.29 | 88,093 | $59,730 | $273,229 |
| 9 | North Miami | 14.29 | 60,344 | $57,188 | $416,688 |
| 10 | West Park | 15.79 | 15,249 | $65,952 | $422,622 |
| 11 | Miami Gardens | 16.71 | 113,177 | $63,627 | $469,434 |
| 12 | Hallandale Beach | 17.43 | 41,854 | $52,340 | $292,053 |
| 13 | North Lauderdale | 17.71 | 45,234 | $63,326 | $348,539 |
| 14 | Boynton Beach | 18.86 | 81,435 | $70,074 | $401,877 |
| 15 | North Miami Beach | 19.29 | 43,898 | $63,280 | $447,840 |
| 16 | Hollywood | 19.79 | 155,082 | $67,203 | $439,400 |
| 17 | Sweetwater | 20.07 | 20,085 | $54,967 | $438,052 |
| 18 | Oakland Park | 20.57 | 44,682 | $72,708 | $366,517 |
| 19 | Hialeah | 20.79 | 226,165 | $55,594 | $443,804 |
| 20 | Tamarac | 21.86 | 73,019 | $61,718 | $295,512 |
| 21 | Delray Beach | 21.86 | 67,979 | $82,041 | $340,487 |
| 22 | Miami | 22.07 | 459,745 | $62,462 | $579,564 |
| 23 | Hialeah Gardens | 24.14 | 22,915 | $65,439 | $416,365 |
| 24 | Margate | 24.57 | 59,198 | $62,450 | $318,811 |
| 25 | Coconut Creek | 24.57 | 58,330 | $75,014 | $283,669 |
| 26 | Sunrise | 26.14 | 97,918 | $77,652 | $360,656 |
| 27 | Cooper | 26.86 | 2,220 | $76,000 | $456,392 |
| 28 | Davie | 26.86 | 108,346 | $87,250 | $515,020 |
| 29 | Miami Beach | 28.36 | 82,031 | $72,856 | $515,965 |
| 30 | West Miami | 29.14 | 7,162 | $61,274 | $662,496 |
| 31 | Miramar | 30.29 | 138,600 | $89,125 | $518,019 |
| 32 | Biscayne Park | 31.29 | 3,085 | $77,083 | $927,080 |
| 33 | Bal Harbour | 32.14 | 3,055 | $80,806 | $1,942,193 |
| 34 | Boca Raton | 32.36 | 100,234 | $106,273 | $562,566 |
| 35 | Doral | 32.36 | 79,216 | $94,164 | $549,014 |
| 36 | Wilton Manors | 33.21 | 11,511 | $85,392 | $576,125 |
| 37 | Pembroke Pines | 33.36 | 173,194 | $85,104 | $487,422 |
| 38 | Sunny Isles Beach | 33.36 | 22,437 | $61,921 | $649,891 |
| 39 | Coral Springs | 33.93 | 136,103 | $93,602 | $520,102 |
| 40 | Virginia Gardens | 34.93 | 2,423 | $70,469 | $600,367 |
| 41 | Miami Springs | 35.00 | 13,726 | $87,099 | $729,504 |
| 42 | Aventura | 36.29 | 39,885 | $89,274 | $425,757 |
| 43 | Hillsboro Beach | 37.64 | 2,271 | $94,432 | $509,937 |
| 44 | Miami Shores | 37.71 | 11,752 | $144,050 | $735,780 |
| 45 | Lighthouse Point | 39.43 | 10,600 | $92,135 | $762,810 |
| 46 | Weston | 39.86 | 68,837 | $139,825 | $730,059 |
| 47 | Miami Lakes | 40.57 | 31,553 | $101,557 | $653,606 |
| 48 | Surfside | 42.29 | 5,631 | $100,208 | $1,276,757 |
| 49 | Southwest Ranches | 42.50 | 7,656 | $161,051 | $1,437,706 |
| 50 | Lauderdale-by-the-Sea | 42.86 | 6,232 | $81,655 | $712,501 |
| 51 | Bay Harbor Islands | 42.93 | 5,847 | $89,663 | $660,038 |
| 52 | Parkland | 43.57 | 37,178 | $198,669 | $1,058,618 |
| 53 | Highland Beach | 47.14 | 4,311 | $145,485 | $887,063 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 53 suburbs within 30 miles of Fort Lauderdale.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Fort Lauderdale where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Fort Lauderdale with Dania Beach casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Fort Lauderdale are Dania Beach, Lauderdale Lakes, Opa-locka, Pompano Beach, Lauderhill, Pembroke Park, Hypoluxo, Deerfield Beach, North Miami, and West Park.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Fort Lauderdale aren’t all bad. Highland Beach takes the cake as the best place to live around Fort Lauderdale. 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 Fort Lauderdale FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Fort Lauderdale?
Dania Beach ranks as the worst suburb around Fort Lauderdale for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Lauderdale Lakes and Opa-locka are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Fort Lauderdale?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Fort Lauderdale are Dania Beach, Lauderdale Lakes, Opa-locka, Pompano Beach, Lauderhill, Pembroke Park, Hypoluxo, Deerfield Beach, North Miami, and West Park. We scored all 53 places within 30 miles.
Why does Dania Beach rank as the worst suburb?
Dania Beach posts the roughest combined numbers of the 53 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 Fort Lauderdale?
Highland Beach lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Fort Lauderdale by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Fort Lauderdale 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.
