​Ranking Says Asbury Park Is Among America's Worst: Say What?

So how could it have fallen so far, so fast? Or maybe the folks at 24/7 Wall St. made a mistake?

A new report has ranked Asbury Park among the 50 worst places to live in America. Yes, that's right – just months after it was selected as having the second best beach in America.

But take note of several caveats. Researchers at 24/7 Wall St., which published the dubious rankings Monday, said the list was based on a weighted index of more than two dozen measures across four categories: affordability, economy, quality of life and community.

Read more: Asbury Park Beach Named 2nd Best In America By Money Mag

The report notably excludes places with fewer than 8,000 residents and only took the top-ranking city in a given county. It also doesn’t include any sort of happiness survey, so take that information as you will.

The list includes cities, towns, villages, boroughs and Census-designated places. On this list, Bridgeton was 13th and Trenton 29th. Asbury Park was 46th. Here’s what the authors found:

• Population: 15,830
• Poverty rate: 30.4 percent (top 10 percent)
• 2017 violent crimes per 100,000 people: 1,361 (top 10 percent)
• Median home value: $335,500 (top 25 percent)

Here is what the researchers said about Asbury Park:

"Asbury Park is a relatively poor city along the New Jersey coast. The typical household in the city earns just $39,324 a year, about $18,000 less than the typical American household. Low income residents are strained further by the area’s high cost of living...The city’s low incomes and a high cost of living likely contribute to widespread food insecurity in Asbury Park. Additionally, more than one in every three city residents have limited access to a grocery story or large supermarket."

By contrast, here is what Money Magazine said when it selected Asbury's beach as the second best in America:

"Made famous by Bruce Springsteen, Asbury Park offers the classic combo of beach and boardwalk. Surfers can be seen riding the waves on this mile-long stretch of the Jersey Shore."

Does that sound like the 46th worst city in America to you? Just ask Bruce.

There’s no such thing as a perfect city, of course, but some appear to be far worse off than others, the authors noted. Some cities like New York may have a great job market, but residents lead a lower quality of life due to the exorbitant costs of living. Similarly, a city where you get more bang for your buck will also perform poorly in the rankings if residents are significantly more likely to become a victim of violent crime. Such is the case in Houston.

The “worst’ city in America is Mendota, located in Fresno County, California, or so says the study. Half of Mendota households earn less than $27,500 a year and about 50 percent of residents live below the poverty line. To boot, the violent crime rate in 2017 was 646 per 100,000 people — among the top 25 percent — and fewer than 2 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree, the smallest share of any American city.

“The widespread financial insecurity is partially attributable to a lack of jobs. The Census estimates that an average of 15.4 percent of the city’s labor force were unemployed in the last five years, the highest unemployment rate of any U.S. city and more than triple the comparable 4.1 percent national rate,” the authors noted.

The 50 worst cities on the list were spread among just 15 states, but were overwhelming located in the South and West. They tended to have high crime rates, widespread poverty, weak job markets and little entertainment options or cultural attractions. Here are the 10 “worst” cities to live in:

1. Mendota, California
2. Florida City, Florida
3. California City, California
4. Makaha, Hawaii
5. Highland Park, Michigan
6. Bessemer, Alabama
7. Bastrop, Louisiana
8. Waianae, Hawaii
9. Anniston, Alabama
10. Avenal, California

Factors that received a full weight in the rankings include ratio of the median home value to the median income; unemployment rate; poverty rate; food insecurity rate; mortality rate; distance from city center to the nearest hospital; average travel time to work; and violent crime rate;

Click here to read the full methodology.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Shutterstock and Google