Birmingham, Alabama is one of the worst-run cities in America, according to a new analysis by WalletHub, a company that describes itself as a “one-stop destination for all the tools and information consumers and small business owners need to make better financial decisions and save money.
In order to identify the best-run cities in America, WalletHub’s analysts compared 150 of the most populated cities across six key categories: 1) Financial Stability, 2) Education, 3) Health, 4) Safety, 5) Economy and 6) Infrastructure & Pollution.
We evaluated these categories using 25 relevant metrics… Each metric was graded on a scale from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most optimal city management.
We then calculated “Overall City Services” scores using the weighted average across all metrics. Finally, we divided the Overall City Services score by the “Total Budget per Capita” dollar amount for each city in order to construct a Score per Dollar Spent index, which we then used to rank the cities.
After running the numbers, Birmingham came in a dismal 128th out of 150, placing it the same company as notoriously poorly-run cities like Chicago, Illinois (135th), Detroit, Michigan (149th) and Washington, D.C. (150th).
The two other Alabama cities with a large enough population to qualify them for the study came in at 51st (Montgomery) and 54th (Mobile) respectively, well above the national average.
The Magic City was ranked low in almost every category, including Financial Stability (121st), Health (92nd), Safety (144th) and Economy (118). The city’s education system came in at No. 75th, though, placing it right in the middle of the pack.
While other major cities in the state were making headlines by attracting jobs, Birmingham has spent more time in the news for fistfights at City Hall.
The city’s downtown revitalization has been a bright spot in recent years, though, with Regions Field and the Rotary Trail being two of the standout successes.
But according to the WalletHub study, Birmingham has a long way to go before it will be able to recapture the Magic that made it an economic hub of the South.
