Rochester’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 Rochester.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in New York thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Rochester. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Rochester neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Rochester hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 33 of Rochester’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$18,122 median income
$20,658 median income
$20,382 median income
$22,697 median income
$20,220 median income
$19,618 median income
$22,720 median income
$22,113 median income
$19,068 median income
$30,686 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New York’s statewide median.
New York statewide median: $507,794
New York statewide median: $85,974
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous Rochester 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 Rochester:
- 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 Rochester, New York 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 Rochester.
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 33 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Rochester for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best | 514 | $62,567 | $18,122 |
| 2 | Charles House | 2,575 | $55,550 | $20,658 |
| 3 | Upper Falls | 6,300 | $30,600 | $20,382 |
| 4 | Dutchtown | 3,516 | $49,100 | $22,697 |
| 5 | South Marketview Heights | 3,378 | $46,800 | $20,220 |
| 6 | Susan B Anthony | 755 | $147,750 | $19,618 |
| 7 | Edgerton | 7,542 | $46,075 | $22,720 |
| 8 | Mayor’s Heights | 2,406 | $102,625 | $22,113 |
| 9 | Plymouth-Exchange | 3,471 | $41,380 | $19,068 |
| 10 | Lyell-Otis | 8,670 | $52,625 | $30,686 |
| 10 | Genesee-Jefferson | 4,523 | $43,871 | $22,632 |
| 12 | North Marketview Heights | 4,924 | $39,200 | $22,091 |
| 13 | Highland | 5,403 | $142,467 | $44,419 |
| 14 | Pearl-Meigs-Monroe | 3,322 | $108,733 | $35,344 |
| 15 | Beechwood | 7,623 | $64,670 | $37,591 |
| 16 | Charlotte | 5,134 | $102,383 | $37,386 |
| 17 | Maplewood | 18,384 | $76,412 | $43,339 |
| 18 | Atlantic-University | 1,874 | $137,933 | $38,480 |
| 19 | Northland-Lyceum | 5,565 | $91,180 | $45,906 |
| 20 | Strong | 4,246 | $153,350 | $54,846 |
| 20 | South Wedge | 3,650 | $146,540 | $48,928 |
| 22 | 19th Ward | 19,116 | $81,181 | $47,842 |
| 23 | Central Business District | 5,015 | $245,350 | $53,569 |
| 24 | Corn Hill | 2,395 | $206,300 | $39,924 |
| 25 | Genesee Valley Park | 55 | $106,800 | $73,884 |
| 26 | Swillburg | 1,776 | $135,950 | $44,152 |
| 27 | Homestead Heights | 3,495 | $72,300 | $61,461 |
| 28 | Culver-Winton | 7,013 | $114,312 | $62,846 |
| 29 | East Avenue | 6,890 | $226,500 | $54,360 |
| 30 | Browncroft | 3,413 | $130,250 | $85,448 |
| 31 | Cobbs Hill | 1,469 | $230,200 | $106,229 |
| 32 | Park Avenue | 6,372 | $261,650 | $62,473 |
| 33 | Ellwanger-Barry | 4,276 | $164,000 | $63,772 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 33 Rochester neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Rochester
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Rochester with Best landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Rochester are Best, Charles House, Upper Falls, Dutchtown, South Marketview Heights, Susan B Anthony, Edgerton, Mayor’s Heights, Plymouth-Exchange, and Lyell-Otis.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Rochester aren’t all bad. Ellwanger-Barry takes the cake as the best place to live in Rochester.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on New York? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In Rochester FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Rochester?
Best ranks as the worst neighborhood in Rochester for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Charles House and Upper Falls are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Rochester?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Rochester are Best, Charles House, Upper Falls, Dutchtown, South Marketview Heights, Susan B Anthony, Edgerton, Mayor’s Heights, Plymouth-Exchange, and Lyell-Otis. We scored all 33 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does Best rank as the worst?
Best posts the roughest combined numbers in Rochester: a median household income of $18,122 and a median home value of $62,567, 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.
