More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Santa Clarita to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Santa Clarita are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Santa Clarita ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Santa Clarita area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Santa Clarita proper, although Hidden Hills certainly tries.
We examined the 20 biggest suburbs of Santa Clarita 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 Clarita in terms of quality of life.
$81,770 median income · $501,257 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
We’ll get the ball rolling with Palmdale, the absolute worst place to live around Santa Clarita according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Palmdale beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Santa Clarita area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 3rd 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 Palmdale.
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
$81,511 median income · $465,847 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Welcome to Lancaster. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 27.4 miles to Santa Clarita. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $81,511 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 | Compare
$81,939 median income · $952,183 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Santa Clarita suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Los Angeles 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 Clarita suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$68,381 median income · $174,865 median home price
If you live in Westlake, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the lowest Santa Clarita suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 20th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Santa Clarita. Remember, we looked at 20 cities for this study.
Westlake is about 25.6 miles to downtown.
$83,024 median income · $753,549 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
San Fernando has the distinction of being a Santa Clarita suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, San Fernando has the 5th lowest home values in the metro Santa Clarita area, where the median price is $753,549. The median income is $250,001.
San Fernando has an unemployment rate of 6.7% which ranks 8th worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$88,393 median income · $1,201,880 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Glendale has 190,748 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 12.9%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$105,192 median income · $1,209,228 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Ah, Pasadena. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Santa Clarita.
It’s the place with the 11th most out of work residents in the Santa Clarita metro area (5.6%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$92,931 median income · $690,119 median home price
Located in
Ventura County, California
Fillmore is a city about 23.5 miles from Santa Clarita, but Santa Clarita 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. Fillmore has the 4th most uninsured people, 7th worst incomes, and has the 18th highest unemployment rate (3.4%) in the entire Santa Clarita metro area.
Homes only cost $690,119 for a reason. That’s cheap for Santa Clarita standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$96,995 median income · $1,019,551 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
If you absolutely have to live near Santa Clarita, then West Hollywood might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Santa Clarita suburb.
About 8.9% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$135,603 median income · $1,049,634 median home price
Located in
Ventura County, California
Rounding out the ten worst Santa Clarita suburbs to call home is Thousand Oaks.
Located 26.0 miles outside the city, Thousand Oaks is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 12th highest unemployment rate (5.4%), 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 Clarita suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Santa Clarita for 2026
To figure out how bad a Santa Clarita 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 Clarita.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 20 suburbs to evaluate around Santa Clarita.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 20 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 Clarita.” We’re looking at you, Palmdale.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Santa Clarita.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Santa Clarita Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palmdale | 2.71 | 164,634 | $81,770 | $501,257 |
| 2 | Lancaster | 5.00 | 169,169 | $81,511 | $465,847 |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 5.79 | 3,857,263 | $81,939 | $952,183 |
| 4 | Westlake | 6.71 | 4,743 | $68,381 | $174,865 |
| 5 | San Fernando | 7.14 | 23,632 | $83,024 | $753,549 |
| 6 | Glendale | 8.14 | 190,748 | $88,393 | $1,201,880 |
| 7 | Pasadena | 9.00 | 136,969 | $105,192 | $1,209,228 |
| 8 | Fillmore | 9.07 | 16,816 | $92,931 | $690,119 |
| 9 | West Hollywood | 10.14 | 34,884 | $96,995 | $1,019,551 |
| 10 | Thousand Oaks | 10.57 | 125,205 | $135,603 | $1,049,634 |
| 11 | Simi Valley | 11.57 | 125,634 | $122,081 | $844,909 |
| 12 | Moorpark | 12.14 | 35,854 | $148,480 | $939,094 |
| 13 | Beverly Hills | 12.36 | 31,624 | $132,977 | $3,662,756 |
| 14 | Santa Monica | 12.57 | 91,169 | $114,885 | $1,703,948 |
| 15 | Calabasas | 12.79 | 22,669 | $165,288 | $1,722,904 |
| 16 | Malibu | 12.93 | 10,421 | $194,421 | $3,142,247 |
| 17 | Agoura Hills | 15.00 | 19,721 | $171,302 | $1,259,726 |
| 18 | San Marino | 15.14 | 12,216 | $214,167 | $2,837,216 |
| 19 | South Pasadena | 15.29 | 26,068 | $127,175 | $1,692,678 |
| 20 | Hidden Hills | 15.93 | 2,150 | $250,001 | $5,059,063 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 20 suburbs within 30 miles of Santa Clarita.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Santa Clarita where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Santa Clarita with Palmdale casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Santa Clarita are Palmdale, Lancaster, Los Angeles, Westlake, San Fernando, Glendale, Pasadena, Fillmore, West Hollywood, and Thousand Oaks.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Santa Clarita aren’t all bad. Hidden Hills takes the cake as the best place to live around Santa Clarita. 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 Clarita FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Santa Clarita?
Palmdale ranks as the worst suburb around Santa Clarita for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Lancaster and Los Angeles are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Santa Clarita?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Santa Clarita are Palmdale, Lancaster, Los Angeles, Westlake, San Fernando, Glendale, Pasadena, Fillmore, West Hollywood, and Thousand Oaks. We scored all 20 places within 30 miles.
Why does Palmdale rank as the worst suburb?
Palmdale posts the roughest combined numbers of the 20 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $81,770, a median home value of $501,257, and a poverty rate of 15.7%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Santa Clarita?
Hidden Hills lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Santa Clarita by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Santa Clarita 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.
