5 South Florida Cities Among Worst Small Towns in U.S.

Evidently, nice weather and year-round beach access are not as valuable as you may have thought. Five South Florida cities are some of the worst small cities to live in the U.S., according to a new WalletHub study released last month.

Lauderdale Lakes and Dania Beach in Broward County ranked in the second percentile, meaning they performed better than just two percent of the 1,318 cities on WalletHub’s list. Kendall in Miami-Dade County was not too far behind, falling in the fourth percentile. Lauderhill and North Miami were both listed in the sixth percentile.

To determine the best and worst small cities in the country, WalletHub compared more than 1,300 cities based on five key categories: affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life, and safety. The personal finance company analyzed cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 people across 45 metrics that fall within those five key dimensions. Those metrics include median household income, unemployment rate, high school graduation rate, average commute time, and violent crime rate.

Dania Beach, located just south of Fort Lauderdale, ranked 1,129th for affordability, 1,272nd for economic health, 823rd for education and health, 782nd for quality of life, and 1,072nd for safety. Lauderdale Lakes sat at 1,1302nd for affordability, 1,078th for economic health, 928th for education and health,1,219th for quality of life, and 1,045th for safety. Kendall, which is 15 miles southwest of Downtown Miami, ranked 1,060th for affordability, 1,294th for economic health, 674th for education and health, 1,304th for quality of life, and 798th for safety.

On the other end of the spectrum, Boca Raton, Parkland, and Coral Gables were the three highest South Florida cities on the list, meaning they fall among the best small cities in the U.S. Boca Raton ranked in the 82nd percentile, while Parkland and Coral Gables both landed in the 78th percentile. Of the 1,318 cities, Boca Raton ranked seventh and 1,101st for quality of life and affordability, respectively.

In total, 32 South Florida cities were featured on the list. Here’s where they fell:

2nd percentile: Dania Beach
2nd percentile: Lauderdale Lakes
4th percentile: Kendall
6th percentile: Lauderhill
6th percentile: North Miami
11th percentile: Greenacres
11th percentile: Riviera Beach
12th percentile: Lake Worth Beach
12th percentile: Homestead
13th percentile: North Lauderdale
17th percentile: Hallandale Beach
17th percentile: Oakland Park
22nd percentile: North Miami Beach
22nd percentile: Tamarac
28th percentile: Miami Beach
30th percentile: Margate
30th percentile: Coconut Creek
31st percentile: Deerfield Beach
31st percentile: Cutler Bay
35th percentile: Aventura
37th percentile: Plantation
37th percentile: Royal Palm Beach
39th percentile: Doral
42nd percentile: Wellington
47th percentile: Boynton Beach
49th percentile: Cooper City
63rd percentile: Palm Beach Gardens
64th percentile: Key West
73rd percentile: Jupiter
78th percentile: Coral Gables
78th percentile: Parkland
82nd percentile: Boca Raton