10 Worst Places to Live in America

You don't need the US Misery Index to tell you that things are bad in some parts of the US. Unemployment is near or at all-time highs in many parts of the country, foreclosures continue to happen at unprecedented rates and there are some very real indicators that we are heading toward a double-dip recession.

Some of us should count our lucky stars, however. In certain US cities, life is much worse for residents than in other areas of the country.

Using a variety of criteria, including unemployment rates, health data, the number of foreclosures, crime statistics, climate and other measures of misery, WalletPop came up with its unofficial list of the 10 worst cities to live in. This list is far from comprehensive, but there are some significant reasons why these cities made the cut. Read on.  

1. El Centro, California

Population: 41,241

Lose your job in El Centro and it may be quite some time before you find another one. One in four people here are out of work and the city holds the not-so distinguished honor of having the highest unemployment rate — 27.5 percent — in the country (close behind is Yuma, Ariz., with 27.2 percent unemployment).

The desert city, which is located in Imperial County just across the border from Mexicali, has a jobless rate triple the national average of 9.5 percent thanks to the seasonal fluctuations of field laborers. Field work is the county's third-largest employment sector after government, transportation and utilities, according to AOL News.

"Its location across the border from a much larger Mexican city means that there is a large floating labor force," Jim Gerber, an economics professor and director of the international business program at San Diego State University, told AOL News.

"The data for Imperial County is skewed by this, such that the layoffs and out-of-work laborers are not actually counted correctly."

Even with the ebb and flow of its working population, things are still pretty bleak in El Centro. Last year, the city's cemetery went into foreclosure.

2. Cleveland, Ohio

Population: 431,363

Lebron James isn't the only person leaving Cleveland. The US Census estimated that 2,658 people left the city in 2009, the largest numerical drop among America's major cities.

Forbes also put Cleveland atop its list of most miserable U.S. cities, factoring in its high unemployment (although at 9.1 percent it's below the national average), high taxes, lousy weather, political corruption and lousy sports teams — and that was before LeBron decided to leave.

Weather is a big factor, according to Forbes. Located on the south shore of Lake Erie, Cleveland gets hit by lake-effect snow, averaging almost 60 inches of the stuff every winter. Its frigid winters help produce an average annual temperature of only 50 degrees, 10 degrees below the average of the 50 cities measured by Forbes.

Nicknamed the "Mistake by the Lake," Cleveland ranked near the bottom when looking at corruption on the Forbes list. "Northern Ohio has seen 309 public officials convicted of crimes over the past 10 years," according to the Forbes story, which cites data from the Justice Department. "A current FBI investigation of public officials in Cuyahoga County (where Cleveland is located) has ensnared more than two dozen government employees and businessmen on charges including bribery, fraud and tax evasion."

Cleveland also ranks in the top third of all metro areas for foreclosure rates. The city has thousands of abandoned homes, in part because it provided down payments through the federally-funded Afford-a-Home program to many people who could not afford their mortgage payments.