The Worst Cities in New Jersey to Call Home

I'm proud to tell people I'm from New Jersey.  There's a lot to like about our state.  We've got the world-famous Jersey Shore, beautiful mountains, rural areas, and cities.

If we want to get away, we have New York up North, and Philly to the South.  What's not to like about our state?

Okay, so there are many good things about our state, but there are also some areas of the state that aren't, necessarily the best places to live.

The website, Moneyinc released its list of the 20 worst cities to live in New Jersey.  The list is based on things like crime rate, unemployment, and other things that impact your ability to enjoy life.

Salem made the list at number 18.  According to neighborhoodscout.com, Salem has a crime problem.  The crime rate in Salem is 42 per 1,000 people.  According to the site, 96% of American neighborhoods are safer.  From a financial standpoint, the median household income is just under $25,000.

At number 14 is our state capitol of Trenton.  To be totally transparent, my family owned a business in Trenton for many years.  There are many good people who live there.  Unfortunately, the good people are dominated by gang activity which has led to many deaths.  Local government, which seems to have settled down this year, has a history of dysfunction that makes it impossible to get anything done.

Union County's Linden, located about 10 miles from New York, gets a mostly negative report card as the crime rate is high.  If you want to experience getting robbed, this is the place to visit.  Your chance of getting robbed is 1 in 34.  Unemployment is among the highest in the state and as if that's not enough, Linden's typical commute is over 30 minutes.

Long Branch is number 7 on the list of worst places to live in New Jersey.  Long Branch certainly has issues.  The median household income of $65,369 is lower than most of Monmouth County.  You have a 48% chance of being robbed, but even more alarming is the fact that you have a 1 in 279 chance of being a victim of a violent crime.

Lindenwold falls just short of the top spot and is ranked the second worst place to live in New Jersey.  The median household income is just $48,454 and the unemployment rate is 7%.  If you thought Long Branch was dangerous, Lindenwold is worse.  According to Neighborhoodscout, you have a 1 in 237 chance of being a victim of violent crime in Lindenwold.  Ouch.

Find out who's number one and see the complete list at Moneyinc.com.