More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Stockton to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Stockton are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Stockton ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Stockton area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Stockton proper, although Ripon certainly tries.
We examined the 16 biggest suburbs of Stockton 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 Stockton in terms of quality of life.
$83,091 median income · $557,020 median home price
Located in
Stanislaus County, California
We’ll get the ball rolling with Oakdale, the absolute worst place to live around Stockton according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Oakdale beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 4th worst in the Stockton area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 7th 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 Oakdale.
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
$88,530 median income · $520,831 median home price
Located in
San Joaquin County, California
Welcome to Lodi. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 10.1 miles to Stockton. Income levels here are the 6th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $88,530 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
$87,966 median income · $487,072 median home price
Located in
Stanislaus County, California
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Stockton suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Riverbank 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 Stockton suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$79,891 median income · $446,494 median home price
Located in
Stanislaus County, California
If you live in Modesto, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 2nd lowest Stockton suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 7th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Stockton. Remember, we looked at 16 cities for this study.
Modesto is about 28.9 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$89,306 median income · $464,118 median home price
Located in
Solano County, California
Rio Vista has the distinction of being a Stockton suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Rio Vista has the 3rd lowest home values in the metro Stockton area, where the median price is $464,118. The median income is $142,494.
Rio Vista has an unemployment rate of 10.9% which ranks worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$97,465 median income · $598,211 median home price
Located in
Contra Costa County, California
Antioch has 116,477 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 11.4%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$81,467 median income · $601,490 median home price
Located in
San Joaquin County, California
Ah, Escalon. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Stockton.
It’s the place with the 10th most out of work residents in the Stockton metro area (5.8%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$64,153 median income · $203,312 median home price
Camanche is a city about 26.8 miles from Stockton, but Stockton 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. Camanche has the 12th most uninsured people, worst incomes, and has the 16th highest unemployment rate (0.3%) in the entire Stockton metro area.
Homes only cost $203,312 for a reason. That’s cheap for Stockton standards.
$126,421 median income · $646,012 median home price
Located in
San Joaquin County, California
If you absolutely have to live near Stockton, then Lathrop might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Stockton suburb.
About 9.0% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$94,393 median income · $534,299 median home price
Located in
Sacramento County, California
Rounding out the ten worst Stockton suburbs to call home is Galt.
Located 20.1 miles outside the city, Galt is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 9th highest unemployment rate (6.1%), 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%
On the map
Where the worst Stockton suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Stockton for 2026
To figure out how bad a Stockton 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 Stockton.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 4,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 16 suburbs to evaluate around Stockton.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 16 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 Stockton.” We’re looking at you, Oakdale.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Stockton.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Stockton Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakdale | 4.86 | 23,194 | $83,091 | $557,020 |
| 2 | Lodi | 5.21 | 67,607 | $88,530 | $520,831 |
| 3 | Riverbank | 5.71 | 25,166 | $87,966 | $487,072 |
| 4 | Modesto | 5.86 | 219,215 | $79,891 | $446,494 |
| 5 | Rio Vista | 6.57 | 10,102 | $89,306 | $464,118 |
| 6 | Antioch | 7.29 | 116,477 | $97,465 | $598,211 |
| 7 | Escalon | 7.43 | 7,451 | $81,467 | $601,490 |
| 8 | Camanche | 7.43 | 4,550 | $64,153 | $203,312 |
| 9 | Lathrop | 7.71 | 35,052 | $126,421 | $646,012 |
| 10 | Galt | 9.29 | 25,962 | $94,393 | $534,299 |
| 11 | Manteca | 9.43 | 89,043 | $97,055 | $587,965 |
| 12 | Tracy | 9.93 | 96,966 | $121,119 | $696,047 |
| 13 | Oakley | 10.86 | 45,183 | $137,677 | $665,847 |
| 14 | Lincoln | 12.00 | 52,956 | $111,990 | $639,029 |
| 15 | Brentwood | 13.14 | 65,208 | $142,494 | $805,888 |
| 16 | Ripon | 13.29 | 16,201 | $133,380 | $682,800 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 16 suburbs within 30 miles of Stockton.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Stockton where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Stockton with Oakdale casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Stockton are Oakdale, Lodi, Riverbank, Modesto, Rio Vista, Antioch, Escalon, Camanche, Lathrop, and Galt.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Stockton aren’t all bad. Ripon takes the cake as the best place to live around Stockton. 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 Stockton FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Stockton?
Oakdale ranks as the worst suburb around Stockton for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Lodi and Riverbank are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Stockton?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Stockton are Oakdale, Lodi, Riverbank, Modesto, Rio Vista, Antioch, Escalon, Camanche, Lathrop, and Galt. We scored all 16 places within 30 miles.
Why does Oakdale rank as the worst suburb?
Oakdale posts the roughest combined numbers of the 16 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $83,091, a median home value of $557,020, and a poverty rate of 14.8%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Stockton?
Ripon lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Stockton by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Stockton 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.
