WalletHub Releases Report On US Cities
San Francisco, California, has been declared the “worst-run” city in the United States according to WalletHub’s annual report.
This study measures the “effectiveness of local leadership” by evaluating the quality of city services against each city’s total budget, aiming to determine operating efficiency.
The report assessed the 148 largest cities in the country, ranking them based on a “Quality of Services” score, which encompasses 36 metrics across six service categories, compared to each city’s per-capita budget. Despite ranking 24th in quality of services, San Francisco placed last at 148th in its total budget per-capita rank, compounded by having the highest amount of long-term debt outstanding.
Parisa Safarzadeh, a spokesperson for San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s Office, criticized the report. In a comment to Fox News Digital, she said, “WalletHub does this every year and every year, it’s misleading and inaccurate because this study compares San Francisco’s budget (City AND County) with other cities (City only budgets).”
In response, WalletHub communications manager Diana Polk defended the report’s methodology, stating that it relies on the Fiscally Standardized Cities (FiSC) database to ensure accurate, unbiased comparisons. “We do not alter the data provided by FiSC in any way to ensure an unbiased comparison,” Polk told Fox News Digital.
San Francisco’s ranking as the “worst-run” city is not new. The city was also ranked second-to-last in 2022 by WalletHub. In contrast, Nampa, Idaho, was dubbed the “best-run” city in the 2024 report. This marks the eighth consecutive year Nampa has received this title.
Nampa’s mayor, Debbie King, attributed their success to prudent financial management and stewardship. “I don’t consider us a wealthy city, but the key is using the funds that we have wisely,” King said. “We are spending the taxpayers’ dollars, so we’re always mindful of how we best utilize the tax dollars that we’ve been entrusted with.”
King also praised the hard work of city officials nationwide, especially those in smaller communities. “What I would say for all of the cities and the elected officials that serve their communities and especially the smaller ones across the nation, you have a lot of people that work very hard to do a good job to meet the needs of their citizens. And personally, I think they should all be applauded for their hard work.”
The contrasting rankings of San Francisco and Nampa highlight the significant differences in how cities manage their resources and the impacts of those management practices on their overall efficiency and public perception.