WalletHub on Tuesday released its latest study looking at the “best-run” cities in the country.
The study examined factors like education systems, resident health, and economic conditions to determine which cities ranked among the best — and which places left something to be desired.
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“Even during less difficult times, running a city is a tall order,” the study reads. “The larger the city, the more complex it becomes to manage. In addition to representing the residents, local leaders must balance the public’s diverse interests with the city’s limited resources. That often means not everyone’s needs can or will be met.”
The specific factors used in this study are broken down as follows:
- Financial Stability: Includes Moody’s city credit rating and outstanding long-term debt per capita
- Education: Includes K-12 school system quality and high school graduation rates
- Health: Includes infant mortality rates, average life expectancy, hospital beds per capita, and public hospital system quality
- Safety: Includes rates of violent crime, property crime, motor vehicle deaths, sheltered homeless people, and perceptions of safety
- Economy: Includes unemployment rates, median household income, income growth rates, job growth, housing price changes, building permit growth, and business growth
- Infrastructure & Pollution: Includes road quality, average commute time, traffic congestion, walkability, water quality, air pollution, share of parklands, and greenhouse gas emissions
Nationwide, the top-ranked city turned out to be Provo, Utah, followed closely by Nampa, Idaho, (No. 2) and Manchester, New Hampshire (No. 3).
But in Florida, the best-run city was revealed to be Tallahassee, which placed at No. 18.
According to the ranking, Tally’s placement was largely buoyed by its great budget, though the quality of its city services was a bit more middling.
In fact, most of the Florida cities included in this study ranked fairly high for factors like education and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Florida rankings were as follows:
| Rank | City | Quality of City Services Rank | Total Budget per Capita Rank | Best Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Tallahassee | 54 | 18 | Infrastructure |
| 19 | Jacksonville | 93 | 8 | Infrastructure |
| 42 | St. Petersburg | 25 | 73 | Education |
| 70 | Miami | 15 | 101 | Education |
| 71 | Hialeah | 38 | 94 | Education |
| 76 | Orlando | 29 | 104 | Education/Infrastructure |
| 90 | Fort Lauderdale | 46 | 111 | Health |
| 97 | Tampa | 24 | 122 | Economy |