Fort Worth’s neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You’ve got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there’s a neighborhood for everyone in Fort Worth.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in Texas thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Fort Worth. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Fort Worth neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Fort Worth hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 16 of Fort Worth’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$40,654 median income
$31,691 median income
$37,189 median income
$44,497 median income
$49,038 median income
$37,624 median income
$64,738 median income
$49,146 median income
$69,798 median income
$63,894 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Texas’s statewide median.
Texas statewide median: $300,957
Texas statewide median: $78,476
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous Fort Worth neighborhoods in 2026
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We plugged the following criteria into Saturday Night Science to get the worst neighborhoods in Fort Worth:
- High crime (Estimated)
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Fort Worth, Texas for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criterion into a “Worst Score.”
The neighborhood with the lowest “Worst Score” ranks as the most dangerous neighborhood of Fort Worth.
The article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all 16 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Fort Worth for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northeast | 38,197 | $73,740 | $40,654 |
| 1 | South East | 59,810 | $53,724 | $31,691 |
| 3 | Northside | 44,752 | $68,951 | $37,189 |
| 4 | Sycamore | 40,126 | $85,861 | $44,497 |
| 5 | Eastside | 95,072 | $108,565 | $49,038 |
| 5 | Southside | 56,682 | $83,117 | $37,624 |
| 7 | Far South | 21,078 | $121,521 | $64,738 |
| 8 | Western Hills-Ridglea | 43,278 | $123,969 | $49,146 |
| 9 | Far West | 28,215 | $139,380 | $69,798 |
| 10 | Downtown | 4,481 | $146,567 | $63,894 |
| 11 | Far Northwest | 33,891 | $135,505 | $74,826 |
| 12 | Far Southwest | 4,270 | $138,967 | $53,901 |
| 13 | Far North | 141,442 | $156,796 | $83,972 |
| 14 | Wedgwood | 18,051 | $170,300 | $74,003 |
| 15 | Tcu-West Cliff | 36,649 | $258,142 | $81,358 |
| 16 | Arlington Heights | 4,461 | $279,317 | $84,535 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 16 Fort Worth neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Fort Worth
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Fort Worth with Northeast landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Fort Worth are Northeast, South East, Northside, Sycamore, Eastside, Southside, Far South, Western Hills-Ridglea, Far West, and Downtown.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Fort Worth aren’t all bad. Arlington Heights takes the cake as the best place to live in Fort Worth.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on Texas? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In Fort Worth FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Fort Worth?
Northeast ranks as the worst neighborhood in Fort Worth for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. South East and Northside are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Fort Worth?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Fort Worth are Northeast, South East, Northside, Sycamore, Eastside, Southside, Far South, Western Hills-Ridglea, Far West, and Downtown. We scored all 16 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does Northeast rank as the worst?
Northeast posts the roughest combined numbers in Fort Worth: a median household income of $40,654 and a median home value of $73,740, with crime, unemployment, and density folded into the score.
Are these neighborhoods dangerous everywhere?
No. The scores are neighborhood-wide averages, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. Plenty of people live in these neighborhoods without incident; the numbers just say the odds run tougher.
How do you rank the worst neighborhoods?
Each neighborhood is scored on crime, unemployment, income, density, and home values, using Census tract and FBI data. The worst combined score tops the list.
