We already know that Americans are fleeing blue states and cities in droves and searching for greener pastures in places like Texas, Tennessee, Utah, and Idaho. We also know that in 2020, California saw its first net population decline since 1850 as residents flee high taxes, woke dictates, and exploding crime. We regularly read about formerly great cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and Portland descending into chaos and blight.
But where’s the absolute worst place to live in the United States? Turns out, according to surveys, it’s the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. It’s not just the “Swamp,” duplicitous politicians, and crazy Nancy Pelosi that make it such an unappealing place to reside, it’s high taxes, crime, the “migrant crisis,” and the excessive cost of merely surviving that make it such a no-fun zone.
The numbers are in, and they are not kind:
A new study found that for the second year in a row, Washington, D.C., is the least desirable place to live in the U.S., with 33% of the participants who took part in the survey ranking it among the top five worst cities in America.
The company behind the poll, Clever, surveyed 1,000 people in June then looked at migration data from the most recent U.S. Census to understand why the nation’s capital has become America’s least desirable city to live in.
This year, 33% of Americans said the District of Columbia is one of the top five worst cities to live in, which is up from 2023, when 20% of Americans held the same opinion.
Clever said politics aside, D.C. is one of the most expensive cities in the country, and 65% of Americans say the excessive cost of living makes a place undesirable.
The survey showed that New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco also made the top 10 list of nasty places to live, while Tampa, Florida, was ranked as the best, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and Virginia Beach, Virginia, earned high marks as well.
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