More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Rancho Cucamonga to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Rancho Cucamonga are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Rancho Cucamonga ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Rancho Cucamonga area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Rancho Cucamonga proper, although Sierra Madre certainly tries.
We examined the 52 biggest suburbs of Rancho Cucamonga to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in California lists, these places are a little too far downwind of Rancho Cucamonga in terms of quality of life.
$72,160 median income · $460,687 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
We’ll get the ball rolling with Hesperia, the absolute worst place to live around Rancho Cucamonga according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Hesperia beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 4th worst in the Rancho Cucamonga 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 Hesperia.
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
$71,208 median income · $493,150 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Welcome to Colton. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 14.5 miles to Rancho Cucamonga. Income levels here are the 3rd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $71,208 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
$67,415 median income · $487,988 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Rancho Cucamonga suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see San Bernardino 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 Rancho Cucamonga suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$72,990 median income · $762,159 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
If you live in South El Monte, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Rancho Cucamonga suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 4th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Rancho Cucamonga. Remember, we looked at 52 cities for this study.
South El Monte is about 28.1 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$88,857 median income · $588,566 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Rialto has the distinction of being a Rancho Cucamonga suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Rialto has the 8th lowest home values in the metro Rancho Cucamonga area, where the median price is $588,566. The median income is $202,245.
Rialto has an unemployment rate of 7.7% which ranks 2nd worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$77,120 median income · $545,940 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Highland has 56,675 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 17.1%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$79,479 median income · $690,986 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Ah, Pomona. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Rancho Cucamonga.
It’s the place with the 12th most out of work residents in the Rancho Cucamonga metro area (6.6%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$77,659 median income · $660,566 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Montclair is a city about 8.4 miles from Rancho Cucamonga, but Rancho Cucamonga 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. Montclair has the 12th most uninsured people, 8th worst incomes, and has the 10th highest unemployment rate (6.8%) in the entire Rancho Cucamonga metro area.
Homes only cost $660,566 for a reason. That’s cheap for Rancho Cucamonga standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$93,222 median income · $551,284 median home price
Located in
Riverside County, California
If you absolutely have to live near Rancho Cucamonga, then Moreno Valley might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Rancho Cucamonga suburb.
About 7.1% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$68,030 median income · $765,444 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Rounding out the ten worst Rancho Cucamonga suburbs to call home is El Monte.
Located 26.8 miles outside the city, El Monte is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 19th highest unemployment rate (6.3%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
California statewide median: $99,122
California statewide median: $774,582
California statewide median: 6.6%
California statewide median: 12.0%
On the map
Where the worst Rancho Cucamonga suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Rancho Cucamonga for 2026
To figure out how bad a Rancho Cucamonga 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 Rancho Cucamonga.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 52 suburbs to evaluate around Rancho Cucamonga.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 52 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 Rancho Cucamonga.” We’re looking at you, Hesperia.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Rancho Cucamonga.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Rancho Cucamonga Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hesperia | 5.57 | 100,775 | $72,160 | $460,687 |
| 2 | Colton | 8.79 | 53,772 | $71,208 | $493,150 |
| 3 | San Bernardino | 9.86 | 222,724 | $67,415 | $487,988 |
| 4 | South El Monte | 11.14 | 19,287 | $72,990 | $762,159 |
| 5 | Rialto | 12.57 | 104,143 | $88,857 | $588,566 |
| 6 | Highland | 12.57 | 56,675 | $77,120 | $545,940 |
| 7 | Pomona | 13.79 | 147,943 | $79,479 | $690,986 |
| 8 | Montclair | 13.86 | 37,810 | $77,659 | $660,566 |
| 9 | Moreno Valley | 14.86 | 211,666 | $93,222 | $551,284 |
| 10 | El Monte | 14.86 | 106,109 | $68,030 | $765,444 |
| 11 | Ontario | 15.14 | 180,547 | $88,941 | $672,742 |
| 12 | Jurupa Valley | 16.33 | 107,011 | $97,550 | $672,514 |
| 13 | Riverside | 17.71 | 319,069 | $91,045 | $646,784 |
| 14 | Baldwin Park | 18.14 | 70,138 | $80,663 | $722,511 |
| 15 | La Puente | 18.29 | 37,142 | $86,602 | $723,135 |
| 16 | Azusa | 19.00 | 49,031 | $90,721 | $715,154 |
| 17 | Loma Linda | 19.14 | 25,122 | $82,353 | $640,816 |
| 18 | Fontana | 19.43 | 214,169 | $102,821 | $639,032 |
| 19 | Grand Terrace | 21.43 | 13,078 | $83,628 | $587,468 |
| 20 | Rosemead | 21.71 | 50,013 | $73,566 | $913,339 |
| 21 | Temple | 21.86 | 5,901 | $91,180 | $284,500 |
| 22 | Chino | 22.00 | 92,652 | $104,682 | $761,426 |
| 23 | Anaheim | 22.71 | 344,521 | $95,227 | $950,504 |
| 24 | Redlands | 26.14 | 73,375 | $105,041 | $636,035 |
| 25 | La Habra | 26.14 | 61,970 | $100,106 | $911,595 |
| 26 | Covina | 26.57 | 49,888 | $98,671 | $804,341 |
| 27 | West Covina | 27.00 | 107,037 | $101,065 | $852,373 |
| 28 | Fullerton | 27.29 | 140,968 | $104,286 | $1,050,945 |
| 29 | Duarte | 28.07 | 22,184 | $105,483 | $801,444 |
| 30 | Corona | 28.14 | 159,670 | $109,242 | $764,386 |
| 31 | Monrovia | 29.00 | 37,571 | $96,021 | $992,558 |
| 32 | Whittier | 29.71 | 86,165 | $97,201 | $821,843 |
| 33 | Chino Hills | 30.14 | 77,927 | $126,334 | $996,262 |
| 34 | Upland | 31.43 | 79,257 | $105,830 | $825,789 |
| 35 | La Verne | 31.50 | 30,600 | $103,761 | $951,548 |
| 36 | San Dimas | 31.64 | 33,789 | $105,321 | $927,055 |
| 37 | Norco | 31.93 | 25,054 | $127,566 | $918,950 |
| 38 | Glendora | 32.64 | 50,926 | $113,569 | $893,350 |
| 39 | Diamond Bar | 35.71 | 53,355 | $108,281 | $1,028,880 |
| 40 | Orange | 35.86 | 138,266 | $117,113 | $1,143,788 |
| 41 | Placentia | 36.86 | 52,826 | $115,929 | $1,117,228 |
| 42 | Walnut | 37.93 | 27,611 | $129,449 | $1,197,951 |
| 43 | Claremont | 39.00 | 36,595 | $125,647 | $1,039,337 |
| 44 | Arcadia | 39.14 | 55,170 | $113,516 | $1,414,451 |
| 45 | Brea | 39.79 | 47,469 | $131,129 | $1,140,406 |
| 46 | La Mirada | 39.93 | 47,180 | $109,288 | $887,479 |
| 47 | La Habra Heights | 40.86 | 5,478 | $179,583 | $1,399,870 |
| 48 | El Cerrito | 42.00 | 25,994 | $127,876 | $1,142,479 |
| 49 | Eastvale | 42.33 | 70,633 | $160,069 | $949,255 |
| 50 | Yorba Linda | 43.86 | 67,170 | $157,582 | $1,419,513 |
| 51 | Villa Park | 44.00 | 5,748 | $202,245 | $2,343,977 |
| 52 | Sierra Madre | 46.29 | 10,940 | $143,547 | $1,437,492 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 52 suburbs within 30 miles of Rancho Cucamonga.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Rancho Cucamonga where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Rancho Cucamonga with Hesperia casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Rancho Cucamonga are Hesperia, Colton, San Bernardino, South El Monte, Rialto, Highland, Pomona, Montclair, Moreno Valley, and El Monte.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Rancho Cucamonga aren’t all bad. Sierra Madre takes the cake as the best place to live around Rancho Cucamonga. Not sold on California? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Rancho Cucamonga FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Rancho Cucamonga?
Hesperia ranks as the worst suburb around Rancho Cucamonga for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Colton and San Bernardino are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Rancho Cucamonga?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Rancho Cucamonga are Hesperia, Colton, San Bernardino, South El Monte, Rialto, Highland, Pomona, Montclair, Moreno Valley, and El Monte. We scored all 52 places within 30 miles.
Why does Hesperia rank as the worst suburb?
Hesperia posts the roughest combined numbers of the 52 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $72,160, a median home value of $460,687, and a poverty rate of 16.9%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Rancho Cucamonga?
Sierra Madre lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Rancho Cucamonga by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Rancho Cucamonga 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.
