MOST MISERABLE U.S. CITIES
Violent crime -- murder, rape and sexual assault -- is the highest in the country. Housing prices have dropped 35 percent in three years. Jobs are next to impossible to find. Welcome to Detroit, Michigan, the most miserable city in the U.S., according to Forbes magazine. If misery loves company, Detroit has plenty. Nearby Flint, MI, came in second because of violent crime and residents who are fleeing as fast as they can. Coming in third is Rockford, IL. Its misery is best measured by a three-decade decline in the manufacturing base that has hurt the city's economy and kept unemployment sky high at 11.2 percent, one of the highest rates in the country. To measure the misery of the 200 largest metropolitan areas with a population of at least 259,000, Forbesused the following metrics:
- Average unemployment rate between 2010 and 2012
- Median commute times to work for 2011, based on U.S. Census data
- Violent crimes per capita from the FBI's 2011 Uniform Crime Report
- The change in median home prices between 2009 and 2012
- Foreclosure rates in 2012, as compiled by RealtyTrac
- Property tax rates based on median real estate taxes paid
- Median home values in 2011 per the U.S. Census
- Income tax rates
- Weather, including temperature, precipitation and humidity
- Net migration
The top 10 most miserable U.S. cities:
- Detroit, Michigan
- Flint, Michigan
- Rockford, Illinois
- Chicago, Illinois
- Modesto, California
- Vallejo, California
- Warren, Michigan
- Stockton, California
- Lake County, Illinois
- New York, New York
Although violent crime in the Detroit metro area was down 5 percent in 2011, it still remains the highest in the country with 1,052 violent crimes per 100,000 people, according to the FBI.
