The suburbs of Hayward call to all types of people looking to escape city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Hayward 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 Hayward ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Hayward area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Hayward proper, although Los Altos certainly tries.
Of course, not all suburbs of Hayward are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones.
We examined the 64 biggest suburbs of Hayward 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 Hayward in terms of quality of life.
The 10 worst suburbs around Hayward for 2023
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Hayward? Richmond ranks as the worst suburb of Hayward for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward Suburbs To Live For 2023
/10
Population: 115,677
Median Income: $79,478 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.9% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $557,900 (5th lowest)
More on Richmond:
We’ll get the ball rolling with Richmond, the absolute worst place to live around Hayward according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Richmond beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the Hayward area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 5th 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 Richmond.
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: 114,750
Median Income: $82,244 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.8% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $467,500 (3rd lowest)
More on Antioch:
Welcome to Antioch. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 29.4 miles to Hayward. Income levels here are the 3rd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $82,244 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: 75,701
Median Income: $88,343 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.2% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $456,300 (2nd lowest)
More on Pittsburg:
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Hayward suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Pittsburg 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 Hayward suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
/10
Population: 31,975
Median Income: $67,294 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.0% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $413,000 (lowest)
More on San Pablo:
If you live in San Pablo, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the lowest Hayward suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 5th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Hayward. Remember, we looked at 64 cities for this study.
San Pablo is about 26.5 miles to downtown.
/10
Population: 437,548
Median Income: $85,628 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.2% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $772,400 (12th lowest)
More on Oakland:
Oakland has the distinction of being a Hayward suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Oakland has the 12th lowest home values in the metro Hayward area, where the median price is $772,400. The median income is $250,001.
Oakland has an unemployment rate of 6.19% which ranks 10th worst.
/10
Population: 91,176
Median Income: $89,663 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $658,400 (11th lowest)
More on San Leandro:
San Leandro has 91,176 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 9.331525453623476%.
/10
Population: 125,769
Median Income: $100,011 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.8% (23rd highest)
Median Home Value: $612,600 (8th lowest)
More on Concord:
Ah, Concord. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Hayward.
It’s the place with the 23rd most out of work residents in the Hayward metro area (4.82%).
/10
Population: 4,803
Median Income: $122,202 (2lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.3% (highest)
Median Home Value: $923,800 (20th lowest)
More on Brisbane:
Brisbane is a city about 15.5 miles from Hayward, but Hayward 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. Brisbane has the 2most uninsured people, 2worst incomes, and has the highest unemployment rate (10.3%) in the entire Hayward metro area.
Homes only cost $923,800 for a reason. That’s cheap for Hayward standards.
/10
Population: 29,888
Median Income: $96,349 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (27th highest)
Median Home Value: $955,300 (2lowest)
More on East Palo Alto:
If you absolutely have to live near Hayward, then East Palo Alto might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Hayward suburb.
About 4.69% of residents are out of work.
/10
Population: 1,013,337
Median Income: $125,075 (22nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (22nd highest)
Median Home Value: $986,700 (26th lowest)
More on San Jose:
Rounding out the ten worst Hayward suburbs to call home is San Jose.
Located 27.8 miles outside the city, San Joses is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 22nd highest unemployment rate (4.88%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Hayward for 2023
To figure out how bad a Hayward 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 Hayward.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 64 suburbs to evaluate around Hayward.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 64 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 Hayward.” We’re looking at you, Richmond.
We updated this article for 2023, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Hayward.
Summary: The areas around Hayward where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Hayward with Richmond casting itself ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Hayward aren’t all bad. Los Altos takes the cake as the best place to live around Hayward.
- Los Altos
- Los Altos Hills
- Piedmont
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 Hayward Suburbs
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Richmond | 115,677 |
2 | Antioch | 114,750 |
3 | Pittsburg | 75,701 |
4 | San Pablo | 31,975 |
5 | Oakland | 437,548 |
6 | San Leandro | 91,176 |
7 | Concord | 125,769 |
8 | Brisbane | 4,803 |
9 | East Palo Alto | 29,888 |
10 | San Jose | 1,013,337 |
11 | Pinole | 19,065 |
12 | Daly City | 104,914 |
13 | El Cerrito | 25,898 |
14 | Brentwood | 63,618 |
15 | Emeryville | 12,747 |
16 | Newark | 47,815 |
17 | Martinez | 37,308 |
18 | Berkeley | 119,607 |
19 | Alameda | 78,320 |
20 | San Mateo | 105,087 |
21 | Pleasant Hill | 34,649 |
22 | Hercules | 26,050 |
23 | Half Moon Bay | 11,792 |
24 | South San Francisco | 66,331 |
25 | Milpitas | 79,593 |
26 | San Bruno | 43,775 |
27 | Livermore | 88,403 |
28 | Pacifica | 38,595 |
29 | Fremont | 231,502 |
30 | Walnut Creek | 69,876 |
31 | Albany | 19,958 |
32 | Sausalito | 7,260 |
33 | Santa Clara | 127,922 |
34 | Millbrae | 23,083 |
35 | Lafayette | 25,384 |
36 | Campbell | 43,954 |
37 | Sunnyvale | 155,550 |
38 | Mountain View | 82,409 |
39 | Mountain View | 82,409 |
40 | Moraga | 16,750 |
41 | Pleasanton | 79,558 |
42 | Belmont | 28,109 |
43 | Dublin | 69,818 |
44 | Menlo Park | 33,677 |
45 | Clayton | 11,136 |
46 | San Ramon | 85,688 |
47 | Los Gatos | 33,309 |
48 | Burlingame | 31,142 |
49 | Tiburon | 9,146 |
50 | Palo Alto | 68,624 |
51 | Danville | 43,673 |
52 | San Carlos | 30,754 |
53 | Portola Valley | 4,458 |
54 | Hillsborough | 11,390 |
55 | Woodside | 5,316 |
56 | Cupertino | 60,681 |
57 | Saratoga | 31,194 |
58 | Orinda | 19,497 |
59 | Atherton | 7,181 |
60 | Monte Sereno | 3,502 |
61 | Belvedere | 2,309 |
62 | Piedmont | 11,368 |
63 | Los Altos Hills | 8,520 |
64 | Los Altos | 31,562 |