Chicago Ranks Among Worst US Cities To Drive In

CHICAGO, IL — Drivers in Chicago know from personal experience that driving in and around the city is no picnic. Now they have empirical proof to go along with their frustrating anecdotal evidence.

The city was rated as one of the worst places in the country for drivers, according to findings by WalletHub. Chicago ranked 91st out of the 100 most populated U.S. cities in the personal finance website's study with a total score of 44.49.

Not only was Chicago's overall rating for driving poor, but the city did not fare well in two particular areas. It ranked 99th in traffic and infrastructure, one of the categories used to calculate a city's final score. Factors such as number of cold days, average commute time and quality of road and bridges are included in that category.

Chicago also was tied with Boston and Buffalo, New York, as the cities with the highest parking rates. Even New York City — ranked 94th overall with a total score of 43.28 — had lower parking rates than Chicago, according to the city. (NYC, however, was ranked 100th in the traffic and infrastructure category.)

According to the list, the top five best U.S. cities for drivers included:

1. Raleigh, North Carolina (total score: 68.40)
2. Corpus Christi, Texas (68.26)
3. Orlando, Florida (67.35)
4. Greensboro, North Carolina (66.31)
5. Plano, Texas (64.71)

The bottom five cities included:

• Detroit (35.13)
• San Francisco (36.05)
• Oakland, California (38.44)
• Philadelphia (41.29)
• Seattle (42.03)

WalleHub compared the 100 cities across four categories — cost of ownership and maintenance; traffic and infrastructure; safety; and access to vehicles and maintenance — to determine its rankings. Only data collected from the city proper was used, and cities in the surrounding metro area were excluded. Each city's weighted average across all the categories' metrics then was determined to calculate an overall score and ranking.

The data used for the study was collected from government agencies, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Highway Administration and the FBI, as well as private sources, such as Allstate Insurance, Waze Mobile and Yelp.

Go to WalletHub for the website's complete list of cities and where they rank.

Photo via Shutterstock