5 Worst Cities in America

3. Bakersfield, California

Unemployment Rate: 10.8% of Labor Force

3^rd on our list of 20 worst cities of America is Bakersfield. Bakersfield is a major oil-producing city with infamously poor air quality. There is a great deal of pollution. Hispanics make up the majority of Bakersfield’s racial/ethnic groups (50.2%), followed by Whites (32.5%) and Asians (7.3%).

In 2019, 14.6 percent of Bakersfield citizens had an income below the poverty line, which was 19.7 percent more than the state of California’s poverty rate of 11.8 percent.

Bakersfield is known for being a dangerous city. Bakersfield has one of the highest crime rates in the United States when compared to other cities of comparable size, with a current crime rate of 47 per 1,000 population.