Study: Oklahoma City among the best run cities in U.S.
(The Center Square) – Oklahoma City scored well in a new study by WalletHub that ranks the best and worst run cities in the country.
The state capital and home to more than 643,000 residents came in at No. 13. Tulsa, Oklahoma, came in at No. 39.
In determining its rankings, WalletHub looked at 150 of the most populous cities in the country across six categories: financial stability, education, health, safety, economy and infrastructure and pollution.
They then evaluated those areas using 38 metrics to calculate an overall “Quality of City Services” score based on each city’s weighted score across all metrics. The “Quality of City Services” was then divided by each city’s “Total Budget per Capita” to construct a “Score per Dollar Spent” to determine the final rank.
Lincoln ended up No. 88 overall for its “Quality of City Services,” ranking and No. 8 for “Total Budget per Capita.”
“In addition to representing the residents, local leaders must balance the public’s diverse interests with the city’s limited resources,” said Adam McCann, author of the study. “That often means not everyone’s needs can or will be met. Leaders must carefully consider which services are most essential, which agencies’ budgets to cut or boost and whether and how much to raise taxes, among other decisions.”
Oklahoma City received its highest metric ranking for financial stability, coming in at No. 8. That was scored based on a city’s bond rating and outstanding long-term debt per capita. Oklahoma City is rated AAA by Standard and Poor’s and Aaa by Moody’s, both of which are the highest grades given by the ratings agencies.
Among the other metrics WalletHub looked at were a hospital beds per capita, average daily COVID-19 deaths per capita and quality of the local public hospital system. Oklahoma City ranked No. 34 overall for the health metric.
John Winter, an economics professor at Iowa State University, told WalletHub that as more people get vaccinated and the coronavirus pandemic fades, city leaders will have to turn their attention more to other issues.
“Housing affordability is a major problem in many cities, and the primary cause is insufficient housing supply,” he said. “Cities need to allow and encourage new high-density housing developments.”
Winter said crime is also another factor to be addressed.
“Crime rates tend to be persistent and only change slowly over time until a major event happens that causes a spike,” he said. “Cities need better policing and that includes convincing law-abiding citizens that the police are on their side and not out to get them.”
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square
