Worst-run cities in America
State and local governments play an important role in the U.S. economy, contributing nearly 15% of our GDP and more than 20 million jobs, according to a March 2024 report from the Department of the Treasury. But across the country, those numbers can translate to very different standards of living for Americans.
Though historically high inflation rates cooled in 2024, many cities continue to face long-lasting socio-economic issues like homelessness, lack of transportation access, and high poverty rates. Of course, poor city management only exacerbates these problems.
Time will tell whether these struggling cities can change. In the meantime, Stacker listed the 50 worst-run cities in the United States using the 2025 edition of WalletHub's Best- and Worst-Run Cities in America, released in June 2024. Cities are ranked by their overall operating efficiency, which is determined by the quality of services and total budget per capita.
Factors used to determine the overall quality of city services rank and score comprise weighted average scores in six key categories, including financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution. Scores for each of the six categories were evaluated based on 36 relevant metrics such as average life expectancy, violent crime rate, quality of roads, and Moody's city credit rating.
Read on to see the worst-run cities in the United States.
Note: This data analysis was conducted before the wildfires that ravaged Southern California in early January 2025.
