2 GA Cities Among Nation's Worst, Best Run, Study Finds

COLUMBUS, GA — One Georgia city is among the best-run big cities in the United States, according to a new study from Wallethub that measures how effectively city leaders spend their funds. But a smaller community in the Peach State was among the best cities the study looked at.

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.

Columbus is one of the best-run big cities in the United States, according to a new study from Wallethub that measures how effectively city leaders spend their funds. The study ranked Columbus No. 20 on the best list.

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.

Columbus was ranked No. 48 in “Financial Stability,” No. 54 in “Education,” No. 148 in “Health,” No. 60 in “Safety,” and No. 106 in "economy." The city was ranked overall No. 106 in the quality of services score.

Lower on the ranking, Atlanta was No. 60 overall. The city was ranked No. 85 in “Financial Stability,” No. 85 in “Education,” No. 68 in “Health,” No. 106 in “Safety,” and No. 6 in "economy."

"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.