What Are the Best and Worst Run Cities in America?

WalletHub has released a comprehensive list of best and worst run cities in the U.S.

The financial blog used decisions government leaders make in deciding where to allocate limited resources, as their methodology. Leaders, WalletHub says, must consider which services to classify as “essential,” which agency budgets to increase or decrease and whether (and by how much) to raise taxes, among several other decisions.

WalletHub measures the “value” of those decisions to come up with their rankings.

“But how do we measure the effectiveness of local leadership?” they ask. “One way is by determining a city’s operating efficiency. In other words, we can learn how well city officials manage and spend public funds by comparing the quality of services residents receive against the city’s total budget.”

WalletHub compares the “operating efficiency” of 150 of the largest cities in the U.S. to reveal the best-run. Their “Quality of Services” score is made of up 38 metrics grouped into six categories.

According to WalletHub, the nation’s 10 best-run cities are:

1. Nampa, ID
2. Boise, ID
3. Provo, UT
4. Las Cruces, NM
5. Durham, NC
6. Lexington-Fayette, KY
7. Missoula, MT
8. Fort Wayne, IN
9. Virginia Beach, VA
10. Nashua, NH

They worst, they found, were:

1. Washington, DC
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Gulfport, MS
4. Chattanooga, TN
5. New York, NY
6. Hartford, CT
7. Oakland, CA
8. Detroit, MI
9. Chicago, IL
10. Flint, MI

You can read WalletHub’s full findings here.

Photo by Tamanoeconomico