Long Beach’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 Long Beach.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in California thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Long Beach. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Long Beach neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Long Beach hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 27 of Long Beach’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$55,268 median income
$49,979 median income
$63,499 median income
$74,520 median income
$54,626 median income
$58,126 median income
$73,868 median income
$61,102 median income
$71,180 median income
$97,746 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
California statewide median: $774,582
California statewide median: $99,122
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous Long Beach 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 Long Beach:
- 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 Long Beach, California 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 Long Beach.
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 27 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Long Beach for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North West Long Beach | 10,728 | $317,288 | $55,268 |
| 2 | Poly High District | 28,178 | $443,412 | $49,979 |
| 3 | City Of Signal Hill | 10,207 | $295,029 | $63,499 |
| 4 | Californial Heights | 6,988 | $466,250 | $74,520 |
| 5 | Circle Area | 28,815 | $377,553 | $54,626 |
| 6 | North Long Beach | 88,756 | $411,422 | $58,126 |
| 6 | Downtown | 12,810 | $447,410 | $73,868 |
| 8 | West Side | 28,465 | $418,255 | $61,102 |
| 9 | Wrigley | 26,743 | $538,806 | $71,180 |
| 9 | Wilmington | 329 | $466,333 | $97,746 |
| 11 | Bixby Area | 13,274 | $537,640 | $80,680 |
| 11 | Los Altos | 9,578 | $672,010 | $115,735 |
| 13 | East Side | 13,802 | $538,344 | $57,304 |
| 14 | Bixby Knolls | 4,266 | $791,050 | $69,693 |
| 15 | Naples-Marina Area | 8,881 | $896,633 | $96,927 |
| 16 | Airport Area | 408 | $628,300 | $86,875 |
| 17 | Los Cerritos Area | 4,992 | $628,414 | $99,321 |
| 18 | Belmont Heights | 11,972 | $826,515 | $105,042 |
| 19 | Belmont Shore | 6,524 | $1,025,930 | $94,172 |
| 19 | State College Area | 5,340 | $688,167 | $112,954 |
| 21 | Park Estates | 3,071 | $972,533 | $87,060 |
| 22 | Lakewood Village | 7,786 | $673,983 | $89,878 |
| 23 | City College Area | 12,643 | $660,512 | $117,857 |
| 23 | The Plaza | 20,109 | $676,764 | $113,703 |
| 25 | Alamitos Heights | 3,291 | $941,800 | $94,919 |
| 26 | El Dorado Park | 1,096 | $713,033 | $115,995 |
| 27 | Dominguez | 381 | $1,090,600 | $102,266 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 27 Long Beach neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Long Beach
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Long Beach with North West Long Beach landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Long Beach are North West Long Beach, Poly High District, City Of Signal Hill, Californial Heights, Circle Area, North Long Beach, Downtown, West Side, Wrigley, and Wilmington.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Long Beach aren’t all bad. Dominguez takes the cake as the best place to live in Long Beach.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on California? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In Long Beach FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Long Beach?
North West Long Beach ranks as the worst neighborhood in Long Beach for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Poly High District and City Of Signal Hill are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Long Beach?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Long Beach are North West Long Beach, Poly High District, City Of Signal Hill, Californial Heights, Circle Area, North Long Beach, Downtown, West Side, Wrigley, and Wilmington. We scored all 27 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does North West Long Beach rank as the worst?
North West Long Beach posts the roughest combined numbers in Long Beach: a median household income of $55,268 and a median home value of $317,288, 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.
