The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas. Sociologists in these countries sometimes turn this euphemism into a formal designation, applying the term "inner city" to such residential areas rather than to geographically more central commercial districts.

Such connotations are less common in other countries, where deprived areas may be located in outlying parts of cities. For instance, in Vienna, Moscow, Stockholm, Helsinki, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro or Amsterdam, the inner city is the most prosperous part of the metropolis, where housing is the most expensive, and where elites and high-income individuals dwell. Poverty and crime are more associated with the distant suburbs. The Spanish, French and Swedish words for suburb (suburbio, banlieue and f�rort respectively) often have a negative connotation similar to that of the English term inner city, especially when used in the plural.