The suburbs of Fremont call to all types of people looking to escape city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Fremont to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Fremont ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Fremont area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Fremont proper, although Los Altos Hills certainly tries.
Of course, not all suburbs of Fremont are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones.
We examined the 44 biggest suburbs of Fremont 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 ten places are a little too far downwind of Fremont in terms of quality of life.
The 10 worst suburbs around Fremont for 2023
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Fremont? Hayward ranks as the worst suburb of Fremont for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Fremont that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.
Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in California check out the best places in California overall or the worst.
And remember, there are some good places to live around Fremont too.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In California
- Cheapest Places To Live In California
- Most Dangerous Cities In California
The 10 Worst Fremont Suburbs To Live For 2023
/10
Population: 162,254
Median Income: $98,837 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $653,500 (lowest)
More on Hayward:
We’ll get the ball rolling with Hayward, the absolute worst place to live around Fremont according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Hayward beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 4th worst in the Fremont area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 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 Hayward.
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.
/10
Population: 91,176
Median Income: $89,663 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $658,400 (2nd lowest)
More on San Leandro:
Welcome to San Leandro. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 18.9 miles to Fremont. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $89,663 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.
/10
Population: 437,548
Median Income: $85,628 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.2% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $772,400 (3rd lowest)
More on Oakland:
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Fremont suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Oakland 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 Fremont suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
/10
Population: 4,803
Median Income: $122,202 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.3% (highest)
Median Home Value: $923,800 (7th lowest)
More on Brisbane:
If you live in Brisbane, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 9th lowest Fremont suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Fremont. Remember, we looked at 44 cities for this study.
Brisbane is about 27.2 miles to downtown.
/10
Population: 29,888
Median Income: $96,349 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (17th highest)
Median Home Value: $955,300 (9th lowest)
More on East Palo Alto:
East Palo Alto has the distinction of being a Fremont suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, East Palo Alto has the 9th lowest home values in the metro Fremont area, where the median price is $955,300. The median income is $250,001.
East Palo Alto has an unemployment rate of 4.69% which ranks 17th worst.
/10
Population: 1,013,337
Median Income: $125,075 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $986,700 (13th lowest)
More on San Jose:
San Jose has 1,013,337 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 7.673598310100536%.
/10
Population: 47,815
Median Income: $144,011 (17th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.0% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $870,200 (6th lowest)
More on Newark:
Ah, Newark. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Fremont.
It’s the place with the 11th most out of work residents in the Fremont metro area (5.03%).
/10
Population: 105,087
Median Income: $133,612 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.3% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $1,283,900 (23rd lowest)
More on San Mateo:
San Mateo is a city about 20.7 miles from Fremont, but Fremont probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. San Mateo has the 9th most uninsured people, 12th worst incomes, and has the 7th highest unemployment rate (5.32%) in the entire Fremont metro area.
Homes only cost $1,283,900 for a reason. That’s cheap for Fremont standards.
/10
Population: 78,320
Median Income: $113,339 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6% (19th highest)
Median Home Value: $972,800 (11th lowest)
More on Alameda:
If you absolutely have to live near Fremont, then Alameda might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Fremont suburb.
About 4.62% of residents are out of work.
/10
Population: 45,267
Median Income: $139,161 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $930,200 (8th lowest)
More on Morgan Hill:
Rounding out the ten worst Fremont suburbs to call home is Morgan Hill.
Located 29.9 miles outside the city, Morgan Hills is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 13th highest unemployment rate (4.88%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Fremont for 2023
To figure out how bad a Fremont suburb is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
It’s Saturday Night Science.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2017-2021, 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 Fremont.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 44 suburbs to evaluate around Fremont.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 44 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 Fremont.” We’re looking at you, Hayward.
We updated this article for 2023, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Fremont.
Summary: The areas around Fremont where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Fremont with Hayward casting itself ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Fremont aren’t all bad. Los Altos Hills takes the cake as the best place to live around Fremont.
- Los Altos Hills
- Los Altos
- Monte Sereno
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In California
- Richest Cities In California
- Safest Places In California
- Worst Places To Live In California
Detailed List Of The Worst Fremont Suburbs
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Hayward | 162,254 |
2 | San Leandro | 91,176 |
3 | Oakland | 437,548 |
4 | Brisbane | 4,803 |
5 | East Palo Alto | 29,888 |
6 | San Jose | 1,013,337 |
7 | Newark | 47,815 |
8 | San Mateo | 105,087 |
9 | Alameda | 78,320 |
10 | Morgan Hill | 45,267 |
11 | Half Moon Bay | 11,792 |
12 | South San Francisco | 66,331 |
13 | Milpitas | 79,593 |
14 | San Bruno | 43,775 |
15 | Livermore | 88,403 |
16 | Santa Clara | 127,922 |
17 | Walnut Creek | 69,876 |
18 | Millbrae | 23,083 |
19 | Lafayette | 25,384 |
20 | Campbell | 43,954 |
21 | Sunnyvale | 155,550 |
22 | Mountain View | 82,409 |
23 | Pleasanton | 79,558 |
24 | Moraga | 16,750 |
25 | Belmont | 28,109 |
26 | Dublin | 69,818 |
27 | San Ramon | 85,688 |
28 | Menlo Park | 33,677 |
29 | Burlingame | 31,142 |
30 | Los Gatos | 33,309 |
31 | Danville | 43,673 |
32 | Palo Alto | 68,624 |
33 | Portola Valley | 4,458 |
34 | San Carlos | 30,754 |
35 | Woodside | 5,316 |
36 | Cupertino | 60,681 |
37 | Hillsborough | 11,390 |
38 | Orinda | 19,497 |
39 | Saratoga | 31,194 |
40 | Piedmont | 11,368 |
41 | Atherton | 7,181 |
42 | Monte Sereno | 3,502 |
43 | Los Altos | 31,562 |
44 | Los Altos Hills | 8,520 |