This Is the Most Hated City in America

THIS MAJOR METROPOLIS IS SCORNED BY OUTSIDERS AND RESIDENTS ALIKE.

Quick: what's your favorite city in America? Maybe it's your hometown, which you loved so much you never even left. Maybe it's the city where you went to college, or a place you've always dreamed of visiting but haven't made it to yet. Naming your favorite city probably isn't too much of a head scratcher, but what about the city you hate the most? Yes, hate is a strong word, especially in our current divisive times. But the fact is, cities get a lot of hate; you don't even need to ask a New Yorker what they really think about Boston! And long-lasting sports rivalries aside, some cities tend to draw ire from visitors in general, whether it's because of the attitude of their inhabitants, how dirty they are, poor public transportation, or some other factors. At Best Life, we were determined to find out America's most hated city overall.

To begin, we narrowed our list down to the 100 biggest cities to find their place on our favorability scale. We examined how often and where exactly these cities appeared on four of the most recent and comprehensive "favorite city" surveys: a 2009 Pew survey, a 2016 Travel and Leisure ranking of rudest cities, and two 2017 Travel and Leisure polls that measured the most underrated city and the nation's favorite city. That left us with a list of 44 contenders. We combined the scores of these polls into a favorability scale, measuring how positively or negatively people felt about the cities—the lower the score, the more hated the city. (Some were even below 0.)

Then we used Gallup-Sharecare's most recently published city wellbeing index, which ranked 186 metro areas on their community happiness. We also factored in another recent Gallup-Sharecare poll, which directly asked residents how many of them were proud of their city.

Lastly, we measured the 10-year population change in each city from 2010 to 2019 using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, comparing it to the national population increase of 6.1 percent. That tells us which cities grew more than the U.S. as a whole—and which saw more people move away. We then assigned each of these four metrics a weighted value and ran them through our exclusive algorithm to see how each city scored on our Hate Index.

The results are mixed, with both the most- and least- hated cities situated in the Midwest. And Los Angeles came out with the lowest score on the favorability scale, but scored higher marks in community well-being and population growth. Read on to discover the most hated city in the U.S., and find out where your nearest urban locale falls in the mix. And for the state that gets the most hate, check out The Most Hated State in America.

Read the original article on Best Life.

44
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Shutterstock/Real Window Creative

Community well-being rank: 43

Residents who are proud of their city: 67.6 percent

Population change since 2010: +12.29 percent

Favorability scale: 7.0

Hate Index Score: 0.00

43
Fort Worth, Texas
iStock

Community well-being rank: 59

Residents who are proud of their city: 66.3 percent

Population change since 2010: +22.72 percent

Favorability scale: 5.5

Hate Index Score: 0.56

42
St. Paul, Minnesota
iStock

Community well-being rank: 43

Residents who are proud of their city: 67.6 percent

Population change since 2010: +8.08 percent

Favorability scale: 7.0

Hate Index Score: 3.84

41
San Diego, California
iStock

Community well-being rank: 39

Residents who are proud of their city: 67.1 percent

Population change since 2010: +8.91 percent

Favorability scale: 6.1

Hate Index Score: 5.84

And for the place where cannabis is quite popular, This Is the Most Stoned State in America.

40
Denver, Colorado
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 55

Residents who are proud of their city: 68.1 percent

Population change since 2010: +21.17 percent

Favorability scale: 2.1

Hate Index Score: 8.99

39
Portland, Oregon
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 17

Residents who are proud of their city: 64.7 percent

Population change since 2010: +12.16 percent

Favorability scale: 3.4

Hate Index Score: 10.93

38
San Fransisco, California
iStock

Community well-being rank: 73

Residents who are proud of their city: 64.0 percent

Population change since 2010: +9.48 percent

Favorability scale: 7.1

Hate Index Score: 13.99

37
Nashville, Tennessee
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 34

Residents who are proud of their city: 65.9 percent

Population change since 2010: +11.58 percent

Favorability scale: 2.1

Hate Index Score: 16.97

36
Indianapolis, Indiana
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 109

Residents who are proud of their city: 61.8 percent

Population change since 2010: +61.8 percent

Favorability scale: 10.3

Hate Index Score: 17.33

35
Washington, D.C.
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 76

Residents who are proud of their city: 65.8 percent

Population change since 2010: +17.29 percent

Favorability scale: 2.1

Hate Index Score: 20.45

34
San Antonio, Texas
iStock

Community well-being rank: 36

Residents who are proud of their city: 66.7 percent

Population change since 2010: +16.56 percent

Favorability scale: -1.4

Hate Index Score: 22.64

33
Orlando, Florida
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 77

Residents who are proud of their city: 64.3 percent

Population change since 2010: +20.62 percent

Favorability scale: -0.1

Hate Index Score: 27.13

32
Seattle, Washington
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 105

Residents who are proud of their city: 63.2 percent

Population change since 2010: +23.83 percent

Favorability scale: 0.9

Hate Index Score: 28.47

And for more on the place where people aren't very generous, This Is the Meanest State in America.

31
Buffalo, New York
iStock

Community well-being rank: 123

Residents who are proud of their city: 58.6 percent

Population change since 2010: -2.31 percent

Favorability scale: 11.5

Hate Index Score: 29.62

30
Louisville, Kentucky
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 102

Residents who are proud of their city: 65.6 percent

Population change since 2010: +3.40 percent

Favorability scale: 4.5

Hate Index Score: 31.20

29
Kansas City, Missouri
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 80

Residents who are proud of their city: 65.8 percent

Population change since 2010: +7.73 percent

Favorability scale: 1.5

Hate Index Score: 31.97

28
Tampa, Florida
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 79

Residents who are proud of their city: 60.7 percent

Population change since 2010: +19.06 percent

Favorability scale: -0.1

Hate Index Score: 34.67

27
Norfolk, Virginia
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 159

Residents who are proud of their city: 56.4 percent

Population change since 2010: -0.03 percent

Favorability scale: 12.3

Hate Index Score: 35.98

26
Columbus, Ohio
iStock

Community well-being rank: 103

Residents who are proud of their city: 62.2 percent

Population change since 2010: +14.17 percent

Favorability scale: -0.3

Hate Index Score: 42.03

And for the place that is most likely to blur the truth, This Is the Most Dishonest State in America.

25
Houston, Texas
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 74

Residents who are proud of their city: 65.3 percent

Population change since 2010: +10.52 percent

Favorability scale: -2.9

Hate Index Score: 42.85

24
Scottsdale, Arizona
iStock

Community well-being rank: 67

Residents who are proud of their city: 62.7 percent

Population change since 2010: +18.72 percent

Favorability scale: -4.9

Hate Index Score: 44.42

23
Atlanta, Georgia
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 116

Residents who are proud of their city: 62.3 percent

Population change since 2010: +20.67 percent

Favorability scale: -2.1

Hate Index Score: 44.53

22
New Orleans, Louisiana
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 173

Residents who are proud of their city: 61.3 percent

Population change since 2010: +13.47 percent

Favorability scale: 3.6

Hate Index Score: 46.06

21
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
iStock

Community well-being rank: 69

Residents who are proud of their city: 61.4 percent

Population change since 2010: -1.77 percent

Favorability scale: 1.3

Hate Index Score: 46.17

20
Phoenix, Arizona
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 67

Residents who are proud of their city: 62.7 percent

Population change since 2010: +16.28 percent

Favorability scale: -5.3

Hate Index Score: 47.83

19
Sacramento, California
iStock

Community well-being rank: 96

Residents who are proud of their city: 61.7 percent

Population change since 2010: +10.10 percent

Favorability scale: -1.4

Hate Index Score: 48.67

18
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 124

Residents who are proud of their city: 62.5 percent

Population change since 2010: -0.79 percent

Favorability scale: 2.8

Hate Index Score: 49.96

17
Charlotte, North Carolina
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 62

Residents who are proud of their city: 66.3 percent

Population change since 2010: +21.09 percent

Favorability scale: -10.1

Hate Index Score: 52.15

16
Boston, Massachusetts
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 51

Residents who are proud of their city: 67.0 percent

Population change since 2010: +12.14 percent

Favorability scale: -9.1

Hate Index Score: 53.79

15
Cleveland, Ohio
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 138

Residents who are proud of their city: 58.8 percent

Population change since 2010: -3.98 percent

Favorability scale: 5.0

Hate Index Score: 54.48

And for the states where cheaters run rampant, check out This Is the Most Adulterous State in America.

14
Chicago, Illinois
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 146

Residents who are proud of their city: 58.5 percent

Population change since 2010: -0.06 percent

Favorability scale: 4.4

Hate Index Score: 54.97

13
Cincinnati, Ohio
iStock

Community well-being rank: 111

Residents who are proud of their city: 60.1 percent

Population change since 2010: +2.36 percent

Favorability scale: -0.5

Hate Index Score: 58.55

12
Dallas, Texas
iStock

Community well-being rank: 59

Residents who are proud of their city: 66.3 percent

Population change since 2010: +12.17 percent

Favorability scale: -9.9

Hate Index Score: 58.88

11
Tucson, Arizona
iStock

Community well-being rank: 132

Residents who are proud of their city: 58.1 percent

Population change since 2010: +5.38 percent

Favorability scale: 0.3

Hate Index Score: 60.87

10
Miami, Florida
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 70

Residents who are proud of their city: 63.3 percent

Population change since 2010: +17.15 percent

Favorability scale: -10.6

Hate Index Score: 63.72

9
Riverside, California
iStock

Community well-being rank: 152

Residents who are proud of their city: 59.6 percent

Population change since 2010: +9.05 percent

Favorability scale: -2.9

Hate Index Score: 69.11

8
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 68

Residents who are proud of their city: 62.4 percent

Population change since 2010: +14.84 percent

Favorability scale: -11.4

Hate Index Score: 69.22

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7
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 150

Residents who are proud of their city: 58.4 percent

Population change since 2010: +3.80 percent

Favorability scale: -1.8

Hate Index Score: 71.83

6
New York, New York
iStock

Community well-being rank: 110

Residents who are proud of their city: 59.7 percent

Population change since 2010: +1.98 percent

Favorability scale: -5.9

Hate Index Score: 76.36

5
St. Louis, Missouri
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 137

Residents who are proud of their city: 60.3 percent

Population change since 2010: -5.86 percent

Favorability scale: -4.1

Hate Index Score: 82.50

4
Los Angeles, California
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 99

Residents who are proud of their city: 63.2 percent

Population change since 2010: +4.93 percent

Favorability scale: -11.6

Hate Index Score: 84.08

3
Baltimore, Maryland
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 174

Residents who are proud of their city: 57.3 percent

Population change since 2010: -4.42 percent

Favorability scale: -3.6

Hate Index Score: 91.89

2
Las Vegas, Nevada
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 169

Residents who are proud of their city: 58.4 percent

Population change since 2010: +11.57 percent

Favorability scale: -9.1

Hate Index Score: 91.96

1
Detroit, Michigan
Shutterstock

Community well-being rank: 142

Residents who are proud of their city: 59.3 percent

Population change since 2010: -6.13 percent

Favorability scale: -8.8

Hate Index Score: 100.00

And to discover where you'll find people most active between the sheets, This Is the Most Promiscuous State in America.

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