More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Gilbert to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Gilbert are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Gilbert ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Gilbert area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Gilbert proper, although Paradise Valley certainly tries.
We examined the 17 biggest suburbs of Gilbert to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Arizona lists, these places are a little too far downwind of Gilbert in terms of quality of life.
$67,023 median income · $270,015 median home price
Located in
Pinal County, Arizona
We’ll get the ball rolling with Coolidge, the absolute worst place to live around Gilbert according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Coolidge beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Gilbert area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 2nd 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 Coolidge.
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
$69,983 median income · $319,032 median home price
Located in
Pinal County, Arizona
Welcome to Casa Grande. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 27.9 miles to Gilbert. Income levels here are the 4th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $69,983 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
$51,354 median income · $243,844 median home price
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Gilbert suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Guadalupe 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 Gilbert suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$73,530 median income · $407,332 median home price
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
If you live in Glendale, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Gilbert suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 6th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Gilbert. Remember, we looked at 17 cities for this study.
Glendale is about 30.0 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$60,975 median income · $376,628 median home price
Located in
Pinal County, Arizona
Apache Junction has the distinction of being a Gilbert suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Apache Junction has the 6th lowest home values in the metro Gilbert area, where the median price is $376,628. The median income is $247,159.
Apache Junction has an unemployment rate of 6.5% which ranks 4th worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$79,644 median income · $333,593 median home price
Located in
Pinal County, Arizona
Florence has 25,570 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 6.9%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$81,332 median income · $410,169 median home price
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Ah, Phoenix. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Gilbert.
It’s the place with the 9th most out of work residents in the Gilbert metro area (5.0%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$96,391 median income · $346,284 median home price
Located in
Pinal County, Arizona
Maricopa is a city about 24.1 miles from Gilbert, but Gilbert 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. Maricopa has the 7th most uninsured people, 10th worst incomes, and has the 10th highest unemployment rate (5.0%) in the entire Gilbert metro area.
Homes only cost $346,284 for a reason. That’s cheap for Gilbert standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$79,663 median income · $468,281 median home price
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
If you absolutely have to live near Gilbert, then Tempe might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Gilbert suburb.
About 5.5% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$82,752 median income · $435,134 median home price
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Rounding out the ten worst Gilbert suburbs to call home is Mesa.
Located 6.5 miles outside the city, Mesa is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 13th highest unemployment rate (4.2%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Arizona’s statewide median.
Arizona statewide median: $79,964
Arizona statewide median: $423,330
Arizona statewide median: 5.1%
Arizona statewide median: 12.5%
On the map
Where the worst Gilbert suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Gilbert for 2026
To figure out how bad a Gilbert 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 Gilbert.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 17 suburbs to evaluate around Gilbert.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 17 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 Gilbert.” We’re looking at you, Coolidge.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Gilbert.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Gilbert Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coolidge | 2.50 | 16,636 | $67,023 | $270,015 |
| 2 | Casa Grande | 4.71 | 60,905 | $69,983 | $319,032 |
| 3 | Guadalupe | 5.43 | 5,272 | $51,354 | $243,844 |
| 4 | Glendale | 5.93 | 252,833 | $73,530 | $407,332 |
| 5 | Apache Junction | 6.07 | 41,058 | $60,975 | $376,628 |
| 6 | Florence | 6.07 | 25,570 | $79,644 | $333,593 |
| 7 | Phoenix | 6.71 | 1,642,323 | $81,332 | $410,169 |
| 8 | Maricopa | 8.29 | 67,163 | $96,391 | $346,284 |
| 9 | Tempe | 9.00 | 188,065 | $79,663 | $468,281 |
| 10 | Mesa | 9.29 | 511,764 | $82,752 | $435,134 |
| 11 | Goodyear | 10.71 | 107,645 | $103,319 | $469,424 |
| 12 | Santa Cruz | 11.57 | 61,607 | $115,475 | $1,344,332 |
| 13 | Chandler | 12.14 | 280,136 | $108,095 | $524,156 |
| 14 | Fountain Hills | 12.71 | 23,789 | $112,654 | $670,052 |
| 15 | Queen Creek | 13.14 | 71,867 | $141,978 | $632,223 |
| 16 | Scottsdale | 13.79 | 243,821 | $110,886 | $858,022 |
| 17 | Paradise Valley | 14.93 | 12,611 | $247,159 | $3,474,597 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 17 suburbs within 30 miles of Gilbert.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Gilbert where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Gilbert with Coolidge casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Gilbert are Coolidge, Casa Grande, Guadalupe, Glendale, Apache Junction, Florence, Phoenix, Maricopa, Tempe, and Mesa.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Gilbert aren’t all bad. Paradise Valley takes the cake as the best place to live around Gilbert. Not sold on Arizona? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Gilbert FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Gilbert?
Coolidge ranks as the worst suburb around Gilbert for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Casa Grande and Guadalupe are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Gilbert?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Gilbert are Coolidge, Casa Grande, Guadalupe, Glendale, Apache Junction, Florence, Phoenix, Maricopa, Tempe, and Mesa. We scored all 17 places within 30 miles.
Why does Coolidge rank as the worst suburb?
Coolidge posts the roughest combined numbers of the 17 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $67,023, a median home value of $270,015, and a poverty rate of 19.9%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Gilbert?
Paradise Valley lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Gilbert by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Gilbert 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.
