These Two Michigan Cities Are the Most Hated in America

It's quite oxymoronic to me that Michigan is such an incredible state, but yet it has such a tarnished reputation in certain areas.

As someone who comes from a state that everyone loves to pick on, Alabama, it's tough for me to draw any comparison between the two. Yet, It's Michigan that finds itself with not just the most hated city in America, but the top two most hated cities in America.

Insider Monkey recently put out two different studies analyzing both the most hated states in America and the most hated cities.

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Alabama is the most hated state in America. I lived there for 25 years, the state has tremendous issues with education and infrastructure and socially is stuck in the 1950s with its rooted beliefs concerning gender roles, racism, and homophobia. Trust me, it's not undersold.

Michigan still surprisingly, to me at least, landed at No. 5 in that study. Insider Monkey attributed the ranking largely to prevalent hate speech and hate groups. According to the study, Michigan had 29 documented hate and antigovernment groups in 2023, which exceeded the national average.

For those keeping score, Ohio only ranked at No. 15. C'mon Insider Monkey - everyone hates Ohio.

In a bizarre turn, though, not a single Alabama city landed in the Top 30 most hated cities in America. But, Michigan took the top two spots.

You likely didn't need three guesses as to which cities were named.

Flint took the No. 2 spot, with Insider Monkey pointing out the city's shrinking population and lack of jobs. Flint, of course, also has infrastructure and crime issues that make it difficult for people who call the surrounding area home not to hate it.

Detroit was handed the spot for the most-hated city in America. Insider Monkey pointed at Detroit's violent crime problems but maybe missed the mark on Detroit's shrinking population. Detroit actually had its first population growth in decades between 2022 and 2023 with 2,000 more residents.

A small gain for the 10th-largest city by population, sure, but it shows that Detroit is on the comeback.

That's the thing with both cities - they're both in much better spots today than they were eight years ago and beyond. There is still plenty of room for growth, especially on the crime front, which is arguably the toughest problem to solve. But, Flint and Detroit are, without a doubt, headed in the right direction.