A 2023 WalletHub analysis lexamined the efficiency of local leadership in 149 of the largest cities in the United States to determine which are the most (and least) effective. To determine their rankings, WalletHub looked at several factors, including debt and poverty rates, violent crime, unemployment and education. They found the cities with the highest amounts of long-term debt per Capita were San Francisco, California; Denver, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; New York, New York; and Nashville, Tennessee. Casper, Wyoming ranked as the city with the least amount of long-term outstanding debt, with rates 42-times less than those of Nashville. The highest rates of poverty were found to be in Huntington, West Virginia; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; and Flint, Michigan. The cities WalletHub found to have the lowest percentage of their population in poverty were Fremont, California; Warwick, Rhode Island; San Jose, California; Huntington Beach, California; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. The lowest rate of violent crime was seen in Warwick, Rhode Island, with its crime rate 29-times lower than that of Memphis, Tennessee – one of the five cities that tied for the highest rate of violent crime. Rounding out rest of the five cities with the highest rates of violent crime were Little Rock, Arkansas; Baltimore, Maryland; Detroit, Michigan; and St. Louis, Missouri. Overall rankings from WalletHub were determined by looking at each city's operating budget compared to the quality of services the city's residents receive. In the slideshow above, we'll look at the ten cities WalletHub determined to be the worst-run in the U.S. based on their operating efficiency.

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