2 MI Cities Among Nation's Worst-Run, Study Finds

MICHIGAN — Two Michigan cities are among the worst-run big cities in the United States, according to a new study from Wallethub that measures how effectively city leaders spend their funds.

The personal finance website ranked 148 of the nation’s largest cities based on a “Quality of Services” score made up of 36 metrics measured against cities' per-capita budgets.

Detroit came in at No. 147 with a bottom-third total budget per capita and the lowest quality of services rank among the 148 big cities the study analyzed.

The metrics were grouped into six categories that informed the Quality of City Services score: Financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution.

Detroit was ranked No. 145 in “Financial Stability,” No. 133 in “Education,” No. 136 in “Health,” No. 143 in “Safety,” and No. 146 in "economy." Detroit was ranked overall No. 148 in the quality of services score

Flint was also among the worst-run big cities in the United States, coming in at No. 137. It also ranked No. 145 quality of services and No. 95 in budget per capita.

"The best-run cities in America use their budgets most effectively to provide high-quality financial security, education, health, safety and transportation to their residents. Many of the top cities also have a very low amount of outstanding government debt per capita, which can prevent financial troubles in the future," said Chip Lupo, a Wallethub analyst.

The top-performing city was Provo, Utah, which ranked No. 5 in services and No. 2 in budget per capita.

Below are the 10 Best and 10 worst-run cities, according to the study. The bottom includes most of the nation's major cities, while the top cities are relatively small.

10 Best

1. Provo, Utah
2. Nampa, Idaho
3. Manchester, New Hampshire
4. Boise, Idaho
5. Nashua, New Hampshire
6. Dover, Delaware
7. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
8. Lincoln, Nebraska
9. Virginia Beach, Virginia
10. Fort Wayne, Indiana

10 Worst

1. San Francisco, California
2. Detroit, Michigan
3. Oakland, California
4. New York, New York
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. Baltimore, Maryland
7. Tacoma, Washington
8. Fresno, California
9. Long Beach, California
10. Los Angeles, California

See here for the full rankings, and more about the methodology.