Top 10 Most Miserable Cities in America

In this uplifting piece we will look at the top ten miserable cities within the United States. This list was compiled by the people at Forbes Magazine, and it happens to be the first of it’s kind, serving as yet another indicator of just how bad of shape our country really is. The way in which this list was formulated is quite efficient when looking to measure a given cities “misery index”.

“Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow 7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the late 1970s.”

This however was not the only measurement used in the calculating the top ten worst cities in terms of misery. Only the 150 largest metropolitan areas, which meant a minimum population of 371,000. We ranked the cities on the six criteria above and added their ranks together to establish what we call the Misery Measure. Yahoo, where this story was first published also notes that there are other things that cause Americans misery too.

The people in charge of this coming up with this list decided to expand on the Misery Index and the Misery Score to create our very own Forbes Misery Measure. We’re sticking with unemployment and personal tax rates, but we are adding four more factors that can make people miserable: commute times, weather, crime and that toxic waste dump in your backyard.

Now let’s look at the specific cities making the cut for being one of the most miserable places in America. In first place, and I take great pride in this, is my hometown of Detroit, MI. Yes folks the good ‘ole Motor City finally made it to the top of a Forbes list, unfortunately it was for being the single most miserable city to live in. Take this into account, when you call Detroit a home you are ultimately living in a city with the country’s highest rate for violent crime and the second-highest unemployment rate. As an added kicker you need to pay more tax dollars then you already have committed to allocate your city to clean up contaminated toxic waste sites, not to mention it costing more than just about any other city in the country. With Motown garnishing an A+ is misery 101, here are the remainder of depressing downtowns that round out the top ten miserable cities in America:

1. Detroit, MI - Motown is the worst in the country when it comes to violent crime, with an annual rate of 1,251 crimes for every 100,000 residents. Unemployment in the area is below the double-digit rates it hit in the early 1990s, but at 8.5% over the past three years, it is still the second-highest in the country among the 150 largest metro areas.
2. Stockton, CA - The population of the Stockton metro area soared 28% over the past 10 years as people looked for affordable options to the pricey Bay Area. The population flow helped home prices jump 158% between 2000 and 2005, but they have fallen the past two years, as Stockton has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country.
3. Flint, MI - Flint’s decline has corresponded with the downturn in the U.S. auto industry. The Flint metro area has experienced a net migration out of Flint every year but one since 1990. One upshot of living in Flint is cheap housing. The median home price was only $104,000 last year, according to Moody’s Economy.com.
4. New York, NY - The Big Apple is the nation’s center for financial services, publishing, advertising and countless other industries, making job opportunities plentiful. But the costs can make all but the super-wealthy miserable. Housing costs are through the roof, and income tax rates are 10.5%, more than twice the U.S. average. Commuting times are also the worst, at an average of 36 minutes each way.
5. Philadelphia, PA - How miserable is Philly? The residents of the City of Brotherly Love once booed Santa Claus and pelted him with snowballs at an Eagles game. Maybe it’s the long commutes, violent crime and plethora of toxic waste sites that has people grumpy. Philadelphia scored in the top 20 in all three areas.
6. Chicago, IL - Residents of the country’s third-largest metro face long commutes (31 minutes on average) and high violent crime rates (619 crimes per 100,000 residents). Another chief complaint: the bitter-cold winters. And as for misery, nothing tops being a Cubs fan. The team has not won a World Series since 1908, the longest winless streak in baseball.
7. Los Angeles, CA - In sunny L.A., the weather is almost perfect. Everything else, not so perfect. If you are not stuck in traffic or forking over your earnings to put a dent in the state’s massive budget deficit, chances are, you are choking on the city’s polluted air.
8. Modesto, CA - George Lucas of Star Wars fame was born in Modesto, and one of his first movies, American Graffiti, was about teenagers cruising the streets of Modesto at night. Modesto could use some of Lucas’ $3.9 billion fortune, as unemployment was an unseemly 8.7% in 2007. Of course, that is down from the early 1990s, when it topped 15%.
9. Charlotte, NC - Charlotte ranked in the bottom 50% of all six categories that we examined. Its worst showing was in violent crimes (838 crimes per 100,000 residents). As home to banking giants Bank of America and Wachovia, Charlotte could see an uptick in unemployment, thanks to the problems at those banks.
10. Providence, R.I. - Only New York City fares worst than Providence when it comes to income tax rates. The top rate for all of Rhode Island is 9.9%. Residents are fleeing the area, with a net migration of 20,000 out of the area over the past four years.

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