The worst-run city in America is Washington, D.C., according to a new report from WalletHub.
The personal finance website ranked the best- and worst-run cities in the U.S. for 2019 by comparing the operating efficiency of 150 of the largest U.S. cities across six weighted categories: financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution.
New York, San Francisco, and Detroit were also among the worst. For years, the Big Apple has been riddled by crime and rising rent prices. However, the NYPD recently announced that the city is getting safer, with murder crimes hitting a record low in May, although the city remains vigilant against a rise in hate crimes.
Additionally, New York City’s real estate has shown signs of cooling. A recent survey found Manhattan's high-end apartment prices fell in the second-quarter, with resale closings stagnating, and sellers offering their biggest price discounts in nearly a decade.
Detroit, meanwhile, has the highest infant mortality rate among all the measured cities and is tied for the highest violent crime rate. It’s also among the top cities for highest percentage of population in poverty and highest unemployment rate.
For San Francisco, it wasn’t all bad news. The Golden City topped the list for lowest infant mortality rate, and tied for first place for lowest unemployment rate with five other major cities. But real estate prices and homelessness have put it in the national spotlight, with President Donald Trump recently saying he is “seriously” considering tackling the blight of homelessness in major American cities.
As for real estate, the median home price in the Fog City was $1,304,3000 as of January. Prices have skyrocketed more than 65% over the last 10 years, making San Francisco County one of the places with the highest-median home values in the country. The WalletHub survey also found that the city has some of the worst quality of roads and highest long-term debt outstanding per capita.
Topping the list for best-run city is Nampa, Idaho. With an estimated population of 100,000, Nampa is about 20 miles west of the state capital of Boise. The city has the second-lowest long-term debt outstanding per capita. However, that’s not to say it scored highly across the board. It came in at 48 for “quality of city services”. The top spot for that category went to Huntington Beach, California.
Pamela Granda is a producer on Yahoo Finance’s closing bell show, The Final Round. Follow her on Twitter.
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