Forbes released their list of America’s 20 Most Miserable Cities today. Their “Misery Measure” takes into account: “unemployment, taxes (both sales and income), commute times, violent crime and how its pro sports teams have fared over the past two years. We also factored in two indexes put together by Portland, Ore., researcher Bert Sperling that gauge weather and Superfund pollution sites. Lastly we considered corruption based on convictions of public officials in each area as tracked by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice.

We expanded the list of cities under consideration this year to include the 200 largest metro areas (in years past we’ve examined 150) which led to a shuffling in the ranks. Any area with a population of more than 245,000 was eligible.”

1. Cleveland, Ohio tops the list at number one. Followed by:
2. Stockton, California
3. Memphis, Tenn.
4. Detroit, Michigan
5. Flint, Michigan
6. Miami, Florida
7. St. Louis, Missouri
8. Buffalo, N.Y.
9. Canton, Ohio
10. Chicago, Illinois
11. Modesto, California
12. Akron, Ohio
13. Kansas City, Mo.
14. Rockford, Illinois
15. Toledo, Ohio
16. New York, N.Y.
17. Sacramento, California
18. Youngstown, Ohio
19. Gary, Indiana
20. Philadelphia, Pa.

Yikes, Ohio really took a hit! How do you feel about this list? Do you live in or have you visited any of these cities? Share your thoughts.