Newark’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 Newark.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in New Jersey thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Newark. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Newark neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Newark hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 20 of Newark’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$23,837 median income
$24,967 median income
$28,311 median income
$32,357 median income
$29,552 median income
$29,909 median income
$30,315 median income
$32,132 median income
$33,803 median income
$36,350 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New Jersey’s statewide median.
New Jersey statewide median: $569,411
New Jersey statewide median: $103,556
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous Newark 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 Newark:
- 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 Newark, New Jersey 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 Newark.
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 20 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Newark for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dayton-Weequahic Park | 2,788 | $87,600 | $23,837 |
| 2 | Springfield-Belmont | 12,462 | $75,687 | $24,967 |
| 3 | South Broad Street | 11,776 | $106,406 | $28,311 |
| 4 | Lower Clinton Hill | 2,585 | $131,567 | $32,357 |
| 5 | West Side | 13,679 | $149,623 | $29,552 |
| 6 | Lower Roseville | 9,940 | $137,489 | $29,909 |
| 7 | Fairmuont | 12,363 | $161,000 | $30,315 |
| 8 | Seventh Avenue | 10,536 | $151,667 | $32,132 |
| 9 | Mount Pleasant | 7,187 | $164,700 | $33,803 |
| 10 | University Heights | 9,646 | $146,370 | $36,350 |
| 11 | Central Business District | 5,389 | $129,883 | $42,834 |
| 12 | North Broadway | 10,921 | $221,443 | $33,740 |
| 13 | Forest Hill | 22,701 | $210,724 | $33,687 |
| 14 | Upper Roseville | 17,368 | $214,031 | $36,765 |
| 15 | Lower Vailsburg | 17,181 | $180,792 | $49,386 |
| 16 | Upper Clinton Hill | 16,214 | $227,408 | $38,308 |
| 17 | South Ironbound | 8,225 | $258,362 | $43,950 |
| 18 | Weequahic | 20,316 | $240,015 | $46,308 |
| 19 | Upper Vailsburg | 16,780 | $232,478 | $50,730 |
| 20 | North Ironbound | 43,436 | $220,131 | $45,242 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 20 Newark neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Newark
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Newark with Dayton-Weequahic Park landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Newark are Dayton-Weequahic Park, Springfield-Belmont, South Broad Street, Lower Clinton Hill, West Side, Lower Roseville, Fairmuont, Seventh Avenue, Mount Pleasant, and University Heights.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Newark aren’t all bad. North Ironbound takes the cake as the best place to live in Newark.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on New Jersey? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In Newark FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Newark?
Dayton-Weequahic Park ranks as the worst neighborhood in Newark for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Springfield-Belmont and South Broad Street are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Newark?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Newark are Dayton-Weequahic Park, Springfield-Belmont, South Broad Street, Lower Clinton Hill, West Side, Lower Roseville, Fairmuont, Seventh Avenue, Mount Pleasant, and University Heights. We scored all 20 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does Dayton-Weequahic Park rank as the worst?
Dayton-Weequahic Park posts the roughest combined numbers in Newark: a median household income of $23,837 and a median home value of $87,600, 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.
