More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Santa Ana to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Santa Ana are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Santa Ana ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Santa Ana area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Santa Ana proper, although Palos Verdes Estates certainly tries.
We examined the 100 biggest suburbs of Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana in terms of quality of life.
$56,615 median income · $680,366 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
We’ll get the ball rolling with Cudahy, the absolute worst place to live around Santa Ana according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Cudahy beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Santa Ana area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 11th 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 Cudahy.
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
$72,990 median income · $762,159 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Welcome to South El Monte. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 23.7 miles to Santa Ana. Income levels here are the 9th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $72,990 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
$59,996 median income · $675,536 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Santa Ana suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Huntington Park 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 Santa Ana suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$60,943 median income · $652,495 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
If you live in Maywood, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 4th lowest Santa Ana suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 10th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Santa Ana. Remember, we looked at 100 cities for this study.
Maywood is about 24.7 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$78,465 median income · $637,961 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Compton has the distinction of being a Santa Ana suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Compton has the 4th lowest home values in the metro Santa Ana area, where the median price is $637,961. The median income is $242,014.
Compton has an unemployment rate of 8.0% which ranks 7th worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$74,844 median income · $688,936 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Lynwood has 64,578 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 18.0%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$61,020 median income · $688,070 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Ah, Bell. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Santa Ana.
It’s the place with the 23rd most out of work residents in the Santa Ana metro area (6.9%).
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 25.4 miles from Santa Ana, but Santa Ana 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 24th most uninsured people, 17th worst incomes, and has the 25th highest unemployment rate (6.8%) in the entire Santa Ana metro area.
Homes only cost $660,566 for a reason. That’s cheap for Santa Ana standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$79,479 median income · $690,986 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
If you absolutely have to live near Santa Ana, then Pomona might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Santa Ana suburb.
About 6.6% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$62,298 median income · $690,424 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Rounding out the ten worst Santa Ana suburbs to call home is Bell Gardens.
Located 22.1 miles outside the city, Bell Gardens is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 42nd highest unemployment rate (5.9%), 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 Santa Ana suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Santa Ana for 2026
To figure out how bad a Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 100 suburbs to evaluate around Santa Ana.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 100 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 Santa Ana.” We’re looking at you, Cudahy.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Santa Ana.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Santa Ana Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cudahy | 17.57 | 22,087 | $56,615 | $680,366 |
| 2 | South El Monte | 17.71 | 19,287 | $72,990 | $762,159 |
| 3 | Huntington Park | 18.00 | 53,108 | $59,996 | $675,536 |
| 4 | Maywood | 18.14 | 24,317 | $60,943 | $652,495 |
| 5 | Compton | 19.86 | 92,698 | $78,465 | $637,961 |
| 6 | Lynwood | 20.57 | 64,578 | $74,844 | $688,936 |
| 7 | Bell | 21.29 | 32,476 | $61,020 | $688,070 |
| 8 | Montclair | 22.79 | 37,810 | $77,659 | $660,566 |
| 9 | Pomona | 23.71 | 147,943 | $79,479 | $690,986 |
| 10 | Bell Gardens | 23.86 | 38,229 | $62,298 | $690,424 |
| 11 | South Gate | 25.29 | 91,483 | $74,571 | $700,783 |
| 12 | Ontario | 25.86 | 180,547 | $88,941 | $672,742 |
| 13 | Commerce | 26.14 | 11,993 | $77,064 | $696,480 |
| 14 | El Monte | 26.71 | 106,109 | $68,030 | $765,444 |
| 15 | Midway | 27.50 | 3,511 | $63,381 | $248,338 |
| 16 | Paramount | 28.86 | 52,050 | $75,250 | $648,287 |
| 17 | Lawndale | 29.86 | 30,781 | $85,441 | $777,393 |
| 18 | Azusa | 30.36 | 49,031 | $90,721 | $715,154 |
| 19 | Montebello | 30.43 | 61,045 | $79,971 | $827,435 |
| 20 | Hawthorne | 31.21 | 85,191 | $75,848 | $883,585 |
| 21 | Baldwin Park | 31.57 | 70,138 | $80,663 | $722,511 |
| 22 | Stanton | 31.71 | 39,402 | $84,707 | $793,738 |
| 23 | Hawaiian Gardens | 32.00 | 13,691 | $76,341 | $647,289 |
| 24 | La Puente | 33.57 | 37,142 | $86,602 | $723,135 |
| 25 | Bellflower | 33.57 | 76,819 | $78,722 | $801,999 |
| 26 | Long Beach | 36.29 | 455,548 | $87,430 | $857,861 |
| 27 | Santa Fe Springs | 37.07 | 18,871 | $88,238 | $783,370 |
| 28 | Rosemead | 37.43 | 50,013 | $73,566 | $913,339 |
| 29 | Chino | 37.64 | 92,652 | $104,682 | $761,426 |
| 30 | Laguna Woods | 38.07 | 17,289 | $59,269 | $471,410 |
| 31 | Westminster | 38.79 | 89,860 | $85,541 | $1,097,353 |
| 32 | Anaheim | 39.00 | 344,521 | $95,227 | $950,504 |
| 33 | Gardena | 39.00 | 59,422 | $84,803 | $792,922 |
| 34 | Carson | 39.50 | 92,871 | $108,703 | $799,422 |
| 35 | Artesia | 39.64 | 15,889 | $101,004 | $878,198 |
| 36 | Pico Rivera | 40.43 | 60,272 | $88,201 | $753,243 |
| 37 | Temple | 42.50 | 5,901 | $91,180 | $284,500 |
| 38 | Norwalk | 43.57 | 99,789 | $100,085 | $763,283 |
| 39 | Garden Grove | 43.79 | 170,964 | $92,174 | $1,013,183 |
| 40 | Covina | 43.93 | 49,888 | $98,671 | $804,341 |
| 41 | Corona | 44.07 | 159,670 | $109,242 | $764,386 |
| 42 | West Covina | 44.36 | 107,037 | $101,065 | $852,373 |
| 43 | Monterey Park | 44.43 | 59,132 | $81,855 | $934,098 |
| 44 | La Habra | 45.21 | 61,970 | $100,106 | $911,595 |
| 45 | Los Alamitos | 45.36 | 11,794 | $97,155 | $1,583,957 |
| 46 | Fullerton | 45.79 | 140,968 | $104,286 | $1,050,945 |
| 47 | Duarte | 46.07 | 22,184 | $105,483 | $801,444 |
| 48 | Downey | 47.14 | 110,939 | $90,699 | $888,710 |
| 49 | Whittier | 48.64 | 86,165 | $97,201 | $821,843 |
| 50 | Upland | 49.79 | 79,257 | $105,830 | $825,789 |
| 51 | Chino Hills | 51.14 | 77,927 | $126,334 | $996,262 |
| 52 | San Gabriel | 51.50 | 38,392 | $90,488 | $1,121,301 |
| 53 | Alhambra | 52.29 | 81,022 | $88,024 | $937,892 |
| 54 | Lomita | 52.50 | 20,225 | $93,810 | $921,951 |
| 55 | Buena Park | 52.64 | 82,871 | $110,550 | $940,507 |
| 56 | San Dimas | 52.86 | 33,789 | $105,321 | $927,055 |
| 57 | Signal Hill | 52.93 | 11,468 | $113,298 | $708,079 |
| 58 | La Verne | 53.71 | 30,600 | $103,761 | $951,548 |
| 59 | Glendora | 54.43 | 50,926 | $113,569 | $893,350 |
| 60 | Norco | 55.36 | 25,054 | $127,566 | $918,950 |
| 61 | Tustin | 56.21 | 78,981 | $112,503 | $1,189,731 |
| 62 | Costa Mesa | 58.86 | 110,330 | $111,505 | $1,413,322 |
| 63 | Orange | 59.07 | 138,266 | $117,113 | $1,143,788 |
| 64 | Seal Beach | 59.07 | 24,722 | $85,964 | $848,899 |
| 65 | Diamond Bar | 59.14 | 53,355 | $108,281 | $1,028,880 |
| 66 | Placentia | 60.93 | 52,826 | $115,929 | $1,117,228 |
| 67 | San Juan Capistrano | 63.07 | 35,095 | $129,457 | $1,342,011 |
| 68 | Irvine | 63.29 | 311,690 | $136,719 | $1,557,982 |
| 69 | Arcadia | 64.86 | 55,170 | $113,516 | $1,414,451 |
| 70 | Lakewood | 65.00 | 79,850 | $119,177 | $882,502 |
| 71 | Torrance | 65.14 | 142,130 | $116,217 | $1,124,932 |
| 72 | Laguna Hills | 65.43 | 30,740 | $128,851 | $1,243,180 |
| 73 | Fountain Valley | 65.50 | 56,258 | $115,237 | $1,394,237 |
| 74 | Walnut | 65.50 | 27,611 | $129,449 | $1,197,951 |
| 75 | La Mirada | 66.64 | 47,180 | $109,288 | $887,479 |
| 76 | Claremont | 67.21 | 36,595 | $125,647 | $1,039,337 |
| 77 | Huntington Beach | 67.57 | 195,240 | $120,919 | $1,366,658 |
| 78 | Lake Forest | 67.57 | 86,281 | $135,175 | $1,208,686 |
| 79 | Cypress | 67.71 | 49,498 | $130,215 | $1,085,691 |
| 80 | Brea | 67.86 | 47,469 | $131,129 | $1,140,406 |
| 81 | Laguna Niguel | 68.00 | 64,139 | $140,452 | $1,499,546 |
| 82 | El Cerrito | 70.00 | 25,994 | $127,876 | $1,142,479 |
| 83 | Rancho Santa Margarita | 71.29 | 46,990 | $152,560 | $1,029,346 |
| 84 | Cerritos | 71.57 | 47,867 | $135,439 | $1,094,901 |
| 85 | Rolling Hills Estates | 71.71 | 8,131 | $191,895 | $1,901,413 |
| 86 | San Clemente | 74.57 | 63,273 | $140,062 | $1,721,005 |
| 87 | La Habra Heights | 74.64 | 5,478 | $179,583 | $1,399,870 |
| 88 | Mission Viejo | 75.43 | 92,151 | $136,123 | $1,229,743 |
| 89 | Eastvale | 77.08 | 70,633 | $160,069 | $949,255 |
| 90 | Aliso Viejo | 77.21 | 51,113 | $142,439 | $1,012,225 |
| 91 | Yorba Linda | 77.86 | 67,170 | $157,582 | $1,419,513 |
| 92 | Laguna Beach | 78.00 | 22,710 | $143,843 | $2,949,835 |
| 93 | San Marino | 78.14 | 12,216 | $214,167 | $2,837,216 |
| 94 | Rancho Palos Verdes | 79.29 | 40,864 | $179,623 | $1,824,948 |
| 95 | La Palma | 79.71 | 15,272 | $117,989 | $1,203,550 |
| 96 | Dana Point | 80.14 | 32,790 | $141,520 | $1,736,393 |
| 97 | Villa Park | 82.00 | 5,748 | $202,245 | $2,343,977 |
| 98 | Redondo Beach | 82.29 | 69,291 | $150,245 | $1,500,192 |
| 99 | Newport Beach | 83.07 | 83,845 | $156,867 | $3,625,146 |
| 100 | Palos Verdes Estates | 84.07 | 12,925 | $242,014 | $2,763,820 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 100 suburbs within 30 miles of Santa Ana.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Santa Ana where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Santa Ana with Cudahy casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Santa Ana are Cudahy, South El Monte, Huntington Park, Maywood, Compton, Lynwood, Bell, Montclair, Pomona, and Bell Gardens.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Santa Ana aren’t all bad. Palos Verdes Estates takes the cake as the best place to live around Santa Ana. 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 Santa Ana FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Santa Ana?
Cudahy ranks as the worst suburb around Santa Ana for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. South El Monte and Huntington Park are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Santa Ana?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Santa Ana are Cudahy, South El Monte, Huntington Park, Maywood, Compton, Lynwood, Bell, Montclair, Pomona, and Bell Gardens. We scored all 100 places within 30 miles.
Why does Cudahy rank as the worst suburb?
Cudahy posts the roughest combined numbers of the 100 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $56,615, a median home value of $680,366, and a poverty rate of 28.7%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Santa Ana?
Palos Verdes Estates lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Santa Ana by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Santa Ana 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.
