WARWICK – Warwick was ranked No. 22 on the 2017 Best- & Worst-run Cities in America, released by WalletHub on Monday.
The study said Warwick has the lowest violent-crime rate of any city in the study, with a crime rate of 0.81 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, as well as the eighth-lowest property-crime rate and the 11th-lowest rate of fatalities per 100,000 residents.
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The city also ranked as having the second-lowest percent of population in poverty among the cities examined, as well as the third–highest annual income growth rate. In terms of financial stability, though, the city ranks 110th and barely makes it into the top 100 in the markers of health and infrastructure & pollution.
Providence fared a bit worse, and was No. 83 on the list.
Still, while Providence is ranked overall toward the middle of the pack, it falls in the 20 lowest cities in WalletHub’s combined education rankings and is among the worst 10 in terms of financial stability. With the 12th–worst median annual household income of the 150 cities in the survey and the 23rd–highest unemployment rate, the city fell within the bottom 20 of cities for the overall economy ranking as well.
Providence did rank in the top 20 cities for percent increase in building-permit growth from 2014-2016, ranking No. 18 with a 102.6 percent increase and received a ratings boost from the city’s walk-ability (No. 4).
The study compared 150 of the most populated cities in the U.S. by examining 33 different performance indicators grouped into six subcategories – financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure & pollution – and weighing them against each city’s per capita budget.
Nampa, Idaho topped the list, followed by Provo, Utah and Boise, Idaho.
Generally, the top 10 list is dominated by cities west of the Appalachians – two each from Idaho, Montana and Kentucky – while the bottom 10 is filled with a great number of notable larger cities – Washington, D.C., Detroit, New York, San Francisco and Chicago. While New England cities didn’t chart highly in every marker, they at least did better than their West Coast counterparts by some metrics: California cities, for example, dominate the bottom five in terms of both air pollution and quality of roads.
Kyle Borowski is a PBN contributing writer.
