No Arizona cities were among the best- or worst-run cities in the country, according to the personal-finance website WalletHub which conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s Best-Run Cities in America.
However three Arizona cities did rank in the top 2/3s: Mesa, Phoenix, and Tucson.
Highest Rated Arizona Cities
| ‘Overall Services (Score) | City | ‘Financial Stability | ‘Education’ | ‘Health’ | ‘Safety’ | ‘Economy’ | ‘Infrastructure & Pollution |
| 61 (-58.75) | Mesa, AZ | 61 | 66 | 76 | 43 | 46 | 133 |
| 85 (-55.85) | Phoenix, AZ | 71 | 121 | 76 | 68 | 56 | 120 |
| 99 (-54.74) | Tucson, AZ | 88 | 114 | 82 | 109 | 117 | 47 |
The top 20 best run cities in America are sumarized in the table below. Curiously 8 of the top 20 are in sparsely populated states in the western and extreme northern parts of the country such as Idaho, Montana and the Dakota’s.
Top 20 Best-Run Cities in America
| 1 | Boise, ID | 11 | Oklahoma City, OK | ||
| 2 | Nampa, ID | 12 | Las Cruces, NM | ||
| 3 | Provo, UT | 13 | Lewiston, ME | ||
| 4 | Missoula, MT | 14 | Huntington Beach, CA | ||
| 5 | Fort Wayne, IN | 15 | Albuquerque, NM | ||
| 6 | Lexington, KY | 16 | Fargo, ND | ||
| 7 | Billings, MT | 17 | Lincoln, NE | ||
| 8 | Bismarck, ND | 18 | Aurora, IL | ||
| 9 | Sioux Falls, SD | 19 | Raleigh, NC | ||
| 10 | Nashua, NH | 20 | Charleston, SC |
To identify the cities that are managed well by their leaders, WalletHub’s analysts compared 150 of the largest U.S. cities across six key dimensions, including financial stability, education, health, safety, economy as well as infrastructure and pollution. We then combined these categories to construct an “Overall City Services” ranking against which we measured the cities’ total per-capita budgets in order to reveal their budgeting efficiency.
Best vs. Worst
- Casper, Wyo., the city with the lowest long-term debt outstanding per capita, $700, which is more than 28 times lower than in Atlanta, the city with the highest, $19,902.
- Frederick, Md., has the highest high-school graduation rate, 93 percent, which is two times higher than in Denver, the city with the lowest, 56 percent.
- San Francisco has the lowest number of infant (less than 1 year old) deaths per 1,000 live births, 2.53, which is nearly five times lower than in Richmond, Va., the city with the highest, 12.34.
- Warwick, R.I., the city with the lowest number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents, 1.02, which is nearly 20 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest, 19.89.
- Fargo, N.D., the city with the lowest unemployment rate, 2.18 percent, which is nearly six times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest, 12.38 percent.
- Chesapeake, Va., has the highest average annual household income (adjusted for cost of living), $71,245, which is three times higher than in Hartford, Conn., the city with the lowest, $23,564.
- Fremont, Calif., the city with the lowest percentage of residents below the poverty line, 6.3 percent, which is seven times lower than in Flint, Mich., the city with the highest, 41.6 percent.
- Little Rock, Ark., has the lowest share of pavements in poor condition, 2 percent, which is 37 times lower than in San Francisco, Calif., the city with the highest, 74 percent.
- Fairbanks, Alaska, has the shortest average commute time, 13 minutes, which is three times shorter than in New York, the city with the longest, 39.40 minutes.
- Billings, Mont., the city with the lowest median air-quality index (measures air pollution), 27, which is nearly four times lower than in Riverside, Calif., the city with the highest, 97.
For the full report and to see where your city ranks, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-run-cities/22869/