America’s highways got a major reprieve at the start of the pandemic, with a 40% drop in miles driven in the last two weeks of March. Six months in, it’s hard not to notice the roads filling up again. More people are driving. That means a return to congestion, accidents, and long commutes.
When it comes to hitting the road, not all cities are created equal. WalletHub just put out a list of the best and worst cities to drive in.
In order to determine the best and worst cities for drivers, WalletHub compared a sample of the 100 most populated U.S. cities across four key dimensions: 1) Cost of Ownership & Maintenance, 2) Traffic & Infrastructure, 3) Safety and 4) Access to Vehicles & Maintenance. Our sample considers only the city proper in each case and excludes cities in the surrounding metro area.
These were the top 5 best cities to drive in:
1. Lincoln, NE
2. Raleigh, NC
3. Corpus Christi, TX
4. Greensboro, NC
5. Boise, ID
These were the 5 worst cities to drive in:
100. Oakland, CA
99. Philadelphia, PA
98. San Francisco, CA
97. Detroit, MI
96. New York
Los Angeles ranked #95 (sixth worst). San Bernardino, Stockton, and San Jose were also among the worst cities to drive in.
See the full list here.
Data and list is compiled by WalletHub and does not reflect statistics on all U.S. or California cities.