WalletHub has published their picks for the Best and Worst cities to drive in. They examined 100 of the largest U.S. cities on 30 factors of driver driver-friendliness in areas like cost of ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, safety and access to vehicles and maintenance. Those factors include gas prices, annual hours of traffic delays, cost of a new car, average commute time and more.
Overall, Raleigh, North Carolina tops the list as the best city to drive in, scoring a 67.52, and landing at four for cost of ownership and maintenance and six for safety. When it comes to traffic and infrastructure, Birmingham, Alabama, is the best city for drivers, while Greensboro, North Carolina is tops for cost of ownership and maintenance, Laredo, Texas is tops for safety, and Orlando, Florida is tops for access to vehicles and maintenance.
Top Ten Best Cities To Drive In
- Raleigh, NC
- Lincoln, NE
- Greensboro, NC
- Winston-Salem, NC
- Corpus Christi, TX
- Boise, ID
- Jacksonville, FL
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Tampa, FL
- Austin, TX
So we didn't make the top 10. We also aren't the worst. You'd think Los Angeles would be number one, right? Well, no. Oakland, California is the worst city to drive in, scoring just a 34.20, and landing at the very bottom for cost of ownership and in the bottom ten for safety. When it comes to traffic and infrastructure, New York, New York is at the bottom of the barrel.
Ten Worst Cities To Drive In
- Oakland, CA
- Detroit, MI
- San Francisco, CA
- Philadelphia, PA
- New York, NY
- Chicago, IL
- Los Angeles, CA
- Baltimore, MD
- Washington, DC
- San Bernardino, CA
So what about Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas?
Las Vegas came in at #40, but third overall for traffic & infrastructure. Remember that next time you're sitting in construction traffic. Henderson came in at #62 and 8th for traffic and infrastructure. And last for our area is North Las Vegas, ranking 83rd out of 100 cities and 95th for cost of ownership and maintenance.
Not great, but not terrible either. Hey, at least we're not the SF Bay Area?