The suburbs of Tempe call to all types of people looking to escape city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Tempe 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 Tempe ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Tempe area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Tempe proper, although Paradise Valley certainly tries.
Of course, not all suburbs of Tempe are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones.
We examined the 19 biggest suburbs of Tempe to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Arizona lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Tempe in terms of quality of life.
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Tempe? Apache Junction ranks as the worst suburb of Tempe for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Tempe that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.
Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Arizona check out the best places in Arizona overall or the worst.
And remember, there are some good places to live around Tempe too.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
For more Arizona reading, check out:
The 10 Worst Tempe Suburbs To Live For 2023
/10
Population: 38,311
Median Income: $48,917 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.2% (highest)
Median Home Value: $145,700 (lowest)
More on Apache Junction:
We’ll get the ball rolling with Apache Junction, the absolute worst place to live around Tempe according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Apache Junction beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Tempe 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 Apache Junction.
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: 5,334
Median Income: $45,114 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $172,600 (2nd lowest)
More on Guadalupe:
Welcome to Guadalupe. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 2.4 miles to Tempe. Income levels here are the lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $45,114 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: 7,180
Median Income: $48,002 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.7% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $218,600 (4th lowest)
More on Tolleson:
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Tempe suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Tolleson 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 Tempe suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
/10
Population: 35,410
Median Income: $65,072 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.9% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $204,700 (3rd lowest)
More on El Mirage:
If you live in El Mirage, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 6th lowest Tempe 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 Tempe. Remember, we looked at 19 cities for this study.
El Mirage is about 26.7 miles to downtown.
/10
Population: 245,685
Median Income: $60,499 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $252,200 (6th lowest)
More on Glendale:
Glendale has the distinction of being a Tempe suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Glendale has the 6th lowest home values in the metro Tempe area, where the median price is $252,200. The median income is $203,659.
Glendale has an unemployment rate of 5.84% which ranks 6th worst.
/10
Population: 1,591,119
Median Income: $64,927 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $277,700 (9th lowest)
More on Phoenix:
Phoenix has 1,591,119 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 15.355540618300516%.
/10
Population: 88,065
Median Income: $69,241 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $252,400 (7th lowest)
More on Avondale:
Ah, Avondale. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Tempe.
It’s the place with the 7th most out of work residents in the Tempe metro area (5.77%).
/10
Population: 93,651
Median Income: $91,073 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.2% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $333,900 (10th lowest)
More on Goodyear:
Goodyear is a city about 26.7 miles from Tempe, but Tempe 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. Goodyear has the 9th most uninsured people, 11th worst incomes, and has the 3rd highest unemployment rate (6.17%) in the entire Tempe metro area.
Homes only cost $333,900 for a reason. That’s cheap for Tempe standards.
/10
Population: 93,651
Median Income: $91,073 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.2% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $333,900 (10th lowest)
More on Goodyear:
If you absolutely have to live near Tempe, then Goodyear might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Tempe suburb.
About 6.17% of residents are out of work.
/10
Population: 497,752
Median Income: $65,725 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.8% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $269,400 (8th lowest)
More on Mesa:
Rounding out the ten worst Tempe suburbs to call home is Mesa.
Located 12.4 miles outside the city, Mesas is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 12th highest unemployment rate (4.83%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Tempe for 2023
To figure out how bad a Tempe 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 Tempe.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 19 suburbs to evaluate around Tempe.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 19 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 Tempe.” We’re looking at you, Apache Junction.
We updated this article for 2023, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Tempe.
Summary: The areas around Tempe where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Tempe with Apache Junction casting itself ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Tempe aren’t all bad. Paradise Valley takes the cake as the best place to live around Tempe.
- Paradise Valley
- Gilbert
- Scottsdale
For more Arizona reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In Arizona
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- Worst Places To Live In Arizona
Detailed List Of The Worst Tempe Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apache Junction | 38,311 |
| 2 | Guadalupe | 5,334 |
| 3 | Tolleson | 7,180 |
| 4 | El Mirage | 35,410 |
| 5 | Glendale | 245,685 |
| 6 | Phoenix | 1,591,119 |
| 7 | Avondale | 88,065 |
| 8 | Goodyear | 93,651 |
| 9 | Goodyear | 93,651 |
| 10 | Mesa | 497,752 |
| 11 | Maricopa | 57,075 |
| 12 | Santa Cruz | 62,714 |
| 13 | Chandler | 272,439 |
| 14 | Queen Creek | 57,728 |
| 15 | Fountain Hills | 23,639 |
| 16 | Litchfield Park | 6,656 |
| 17 | Scottsdale | 238,685 |
| 18 | Gilbert | 262,249 |
| 19 | Paradise Valley | 12,666 |