A new study of the best-run cities of America struggled to find something positive about New York’s major metropolitan areas.
When you think of a properly run city, chances are you imagine a sanitary environment with low crime, competent leaders, and ample resources. Those three tend to be on the top of Americans’ wish lists when moving to a new city.
Which is why it shouldn’t be all that shocking that New York performed horribly in all those categories and have thus earned the title of being among America’s most poorly-run cities.
This latest finding comes from WalletHub, which compared America’s 148 largest cities to find the best and worst managed. Metropolitan areas were compared based on their educational systems, financial stability, safety, economy, infrastructure, cleanliness, and the health of its inhabitants.
New York Flunks Survey of America’s Best-Run Cities
While the great California cities of San Francisco and Oakland made the bottom two, New York City managed to have the fourth-lowest score of all. The Big Apple was also found to have the third-highest long term outstanding debt per capita.
Not performing much better was Yonkers, which appeared in 132nd place while Rochester bowed in 127th. Also not going well for Rochester is that a food invented in the city was just ranked the “weirdest dish” in America.
Central New York’s biggest city, Syracuse, appeared in 112th place and ranked 84th for quality of city services and 120th for total budget per capita. Syracuse was also found to have the fifth highest percentage of its population in poverty.
On the bright side, at least Syracuse was found to have the best tap water in the entire state.
The final city from New York to show on the list was Buffalo, which placed 109th overall.
Here is an interactive map of how all the big cities performed. Have fun clicking around to see where the best and worst places to live are.
Yes, not a single city from New York managed to even break into the top 100. What do you think that says about the Empire State? Do you think our situation will improve at all, or will we see things get worse as the years pass?
Let us know by shouting us out using the station app’s chat feature below.
The 10 Worst Places To Live In New York State
While New York is certainly home to a plethora of hidden gems and breathtaking sights, Road Snacks has highlighted the state’s most undesirable spots.
As for what determines what makes a city or town one of the “worst” places to live, Road Snacks compared 163 cities with 5,000 or more residents, to find those with the lowest median home value, weakest school districts, and highest rates of unemployment and crime. In short, the survey ranked cities and towns based off their economic performance and opportunity for growth, which Road Snacks says impacts the quality of life of its residents.
In the end, these 10 cities were deemed to be the worst New York State has to offer. That said, the company is not calling these cities bad – so if you have an issue, take it up with Road Snacks. We’re just reporting their findings.
Gallery Credit: Megan
Top 10 Cheapest Places to Live in New York State
New York is one of the most expensive states to call home, but there are some areas that are gentle on the wallet. According to HomeSnacks, they deduced the top 10 most affordable cities and towns in the Empire State.
They looked into data from the U.S. Census, median home and rent prices, as well as median income of a particular area’s residents. Affordability was also determined based on availability and access to services and conveniences.
Below are the top 10 places that let residents keep more cash in their wallets.
Gallery Credit: Megan