Jacksonville one of the country's best run cities?
According to this report by WalletHub, Jacksonville is one of the best run cities in the country.
Like Rome, no great city is built in a day. Economics and leadership play key roles in shaping the foundation of an ideal metropolis. The best cities often turn out to be ones that most efficiently spend their public resources in order to satisfy the needs and priorities of most — if not all — members of the community.
In recent years, total debt for local governments has increased, underscoring the importance for cities to spend wisely within their means. Recently, WalletHub assessed how efficiently some of America’s largest cities spend taxpayer dollars on certain expenditure categories, including education, police, and parks and recreation, which led to the creation of their report series on the “Best Run Cities in America.”
In culmination of the series, WalletHub tallied the scores of 65 of the most populated U.S. cities on the three key expenditures to identify the best overall. They define the best-run city as one that yields the highest returns on all of its public-spending investments.
Overall ROI Rank -- City -- "Education Adjusted ROI” Rank -- “Police Adjusted ROI” Rank -- “Parks & Recreation ROI” Rank
1 Lubbock, TX 12 12 20
2 Philadelphia, PA 9 23 10
3 El Paso, TX 19 3 25
4 Dallas, TX 21 27 7
5 Pittsburgh, PA 15 16 58
6 Corpus Christi 11 26 55
7 San Antonio, TX 29 24 11
8 Garland, TX 24 31 17
9 Houston, TX 16 55 1
10 Fort Wayne, IN 30 20 30
11 Baton Rouge, LA 26 13 59
12 Tucson, AZ 5 58 33
13 Raleigh, NC 22 41 26
14 Detroit, MI 6 72 14
T-15 Durham, NC 23 32 46
T-15 Austin, TX 8 73 9
17 Indianapolis 53 21 16
18 Miami, FL 1 76 63
19 Cincinnati, OH 27 52 38
20 Fort Worth, TX 36 57 5
T-21 Columbus, OH 47 38 18
T-21 Toledo, OH 48 22 47
23 Phoenix, AZ 42 56 3
24 Arlington, TX 35 48 44
25 Portland, OR 34 64 19
26 Norfolk, VA 25 59 64
T-27 Cleveland, OH 43 40 57
T-27 Madison, WI 39 60 29
29 Jacksonville 40 74 2
30 Milwaukee, WI 31 62 61
31 Buffalo, NY 87 8 27
32 St. Louis, MO 20 104 41
33 Orlando, FL 14 108 53
34 Baltimore, MD 38 93 15
35 Mesa, AZ 41 79 36
36 Colorado Spring 59 68 8
37 Virginia Beach 55 66 28
38 Chicago, IL 44 89 24
39 Albuquerque, NM 63 69 13
40 St. Petersburg 33 95 52
41 Atlanta, GA 49 82 32
42 San Diego, CA 60 80 4
43 Sacramento, CA 45 81 50
44 Denver, CO 68 54 40
45 Tampa, FL 37 99 45
46 Chesapeake, VA 62 75 23
47 Fresno, CA 77 49 35
48 Aurora, CO 74 67 21
49 Seattle, WA 56 88 42
50 Bakersfield, CA 85 61 22
51 Anaheim, CA 52 90 65
52 Boston, MA 66 91 31
53 Minneapolis, MN 65 84 49
54 San Francisco 51 105 51
55 Stockton, CA 75 71 56
56 St. Paul, MN 81 70 48
57 Santa Ana, CA 67 86 60
58 Los Angeles, CA 78 98 12
59 San Jose, CA 70 97 39
60 Oakland, CA 69 100 37
61 Kansas City, MO 73 96 43
62 New York, NY 86 101 6
63 Riverside, CA 83 92 34
64 Long Beach, CA 80 103 54
65 Fremont, CA 76 107 62
Methodology
In order to identify the most efficiently operated cities in America, WalletHub analyzed 65 of the most populated U.S. cities across how efficiently they spend on three key expenditure categories, including education, police, and parks and recreation. WalletHub's data set is listed below with the corresponding weight for each metric.
The return on educational investment and return on police investment metrics are based on previous studies they conducted as part of their report series on the “Best Run Cities in America.” To calculate the ROI on parks and recreation spending, WalletHub used the following formula:
Parks & Recreation ROI = Total Parkland Acreage within City Limits/Total Parks & Recreation Expenditures
Note: Total parkland acreage within city limits refers to the area of parkland managed by the city.
Metrics:
"Education Adjusted ROI" Rank: Weight = 3
"Police Adjusted ROI" Rank: Weight = 2
"Parks and Recreation ROI" Rank: Weight = 1
Limitations:
Ideally, WalletHub's analysis would have taken into consideration a city’s spending efficiency on public transportation and health expenditures. In addition, the ROI on parks and recreation spending metric would have included a combination of park acreage and quality. However, such comparative data for these metrics were not available.
Sources: Data used to create these rankings were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Trust for Public Land and WalletHub Research.
For more information: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-run-cities-in-america/10901/#main-findings
In recent years, total debt for local governments has increased, underscoring the importance for cities to spend wisely within their means. Recently, WalletHub assessed how efficiently some of America’s largest cities spend taxpayer dollars on certain expenditure categories, including education, police, and parks and recreation, which led to the creation of their report series on the “Best Run Cities in America.”
In culmination of the series, WalletHub tallied the scores of 65 of the most populated U.S. cities on the three key expenditures to identify the best overall. They define the best-run city as one that yields the highest returns on all of its public-spending investments.
Source: WalletHub
Overall ROI Rank -- City -- "Education Adjusted ROI” Rank -- “Police Adjusted ROI” Rank -- “Parks & Recreation ROI” Rank
1 Lubbock, TX 12 12 20
2 Philadelphia, PA 9 23 10
3 El Paso, TX 19 3 25
4 Dallas, TX 21 27 7
5 Pittsburgh, PA 15 16 58
6 Corpus Christi 11 26 55
7 San Antonio, TX 29 24 11
8 Garland, TX 24 31 17
9 Houston, TX 16 55 1
10 Fort Wayne, IN 30 20 30
11 Baton Rouge, LA 26 13 59
12 Tucson, AZ 5 58 33
13 Raleigh, NC 22 41 26
14 Detroit, MI 6 72 14
T-15 Durham, NC 23 32 46
T-15 Austin, TX 8 73 9
17 Indianapolis 53 21 16
18 Miami, FL 1 76 63
19 Cincinnati, OH 27 52 38
20 Fort Worth, TX 36 57 5
T-21 Columbus, OH 47 38 18
T-21 Toledo, OH 48 22 47
23 Phoenix, AZ 42 56 3
24 Arlington, TX 35 48 44
25 Portland, OR 34 64 19
26 Norfolk, VA 25 59 64
T-27 Cleveland, OH 43 40 57
T-27 Madison, WI 39 60 29
29 Jacksonville 40 74 2
30 Milwaukee, WI 31 62 61
31 Buffalo, NY 87 8 27
32 St. Louis, MO 20 104 41
33 Orlando, FL 14 108 53
34 Baltimore, MD 38 93 15
35 Mesa, AZ 41 79 36
36 Colorado Spring 59 68 8
37 Virginia Beach 55 66 28
38 Chicago, IL 44 89 24
39 Albuquerque, NM 63 69 13
40 St. Petersburg 33 95 52
41 Atlanta, GA 49 82 32
42 San Diego, CA 60 80 4
43 Sacramento, CA 45 81 50
44 Denver, CO 68 54 40
45 Tampa, FL 37 99 45
46 Chesapeake, VA 62 75 23
47 Fresno, CA 77 49 35
48 Aurora, CO 74 67 21
49 Seattle, WA 56 88 42
50 Bakersfield, CA 85 61 22
51 Anaheim, CA 52 90 65
52 Boston, MA 66 91 31
53 Minneapolis, MN 65 84 49
54 San Francisco 51 105 51
55 Stockton, CA 75 71 56
56 St. Paul, MN 81 70 48
57 Santa Ana, CA 67 86 60
58 Los Angeles, CA 78 98 12
59 San Jose, CA 70 97 39
60 Oakland, CA 69 100 37
61 Kansas City, MO 73 96 43
62 New York, NY 86 101 6
63 Riverside, CA 83 92 34
64 Long Beach, CA 80 103 54
65 Fremont, CA 76 107 62
Methodology
In order to identify the most efficiently operated cities in America, WalletHub analyzed 65 of the most populated U.S. cities across how efficiently they spend on three key expenditure categories, including education, police, and parks and recreation. WalletHub's data set is listed below with the corresponding weight for each metric.
The return on educational investment and return on police investment metrics are based on previous studies they conducted as part of their report series on the “Best Run Cities in America.” To calculate the ROI on parks and recreation spending, WalletHub used the following formula:
Parks & Recreation ROI = Total Parkland Acreage within City Limits/Total Parks & Recreation Expenditures
Note: Total parkland acreage within city limits refers to the area of parkland managed by the city.
Metrics:
"Education Adjusted ROI" Rank: Weight = 3
"Police Adjusted ROI" Rank: Weight = 2
"Parks and Recreation ROI" Rank: Weight = 1
Limitations:
Ideally, WalletHub's analysis would have taken into consideration a city’s spending efficiency on public transportation and health expenditures. In addition, the ROI on parks and recreation spending metric would have included a combination of park acreage and quality. However, such comparative data for these metrics were not available.
Sources: Data used to create these rankings were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Trust for Public Land and WalletHub Research.
For more information: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-run-cities-in-america/10901/#main-findings