Lubbock Is Named One of the Worst-Run Cities in America

Two different websites have named Lubbock, Texas as one of the worst-run cities in the United States.

On July 1, WalletHub analyzed 150 of the largest cities in the U.S and compiled the best and worst-run cities in America.

WalletHub used data such as the effectiveness of local leadership, how that leadership spends taxpayer money, and the quality of services residents receive. WalletHub also looked at crime statistics, high school graduation rates, income, and more.

Out of 150 cities, Lubbock came in at no. 109 on the list. The other Texas cities on the list, from best to worst? Arlington at no. 27, El Paso at no. 33, Corpus Christi at no. 44, Fort Worth at no. 51, Austin at no. 72, Houston at no. 73, San Antonio at no. 89, Dallas at no. 93, and Garland at no. 97.

The worst-run city in America, by the way? Washington, D.C.

So that means, according to WalletHub, Lubbock is not only one of the worst-run cities in America, but it's also the worst-run city in Texas.

Another site, TheStacker, decided to take WalletHub's data and recalculate it. But they changed up how they determined the worst-run 50 cities in America.

TheStacker decided to rank cities based off the "quality of city services":

The quality of city services is ranked based on each city's average scores in six key categories, which are financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, and 100 points represents the highest quality of service for each metric. The final score was also out of 100 points. Cities are ranked by their total quality of city service score. The highest total points for the worst-run cities was 50.98 and the lowest total points on this list was 27.79.

In this study, though, Lubbock just barely made it in as one of the worst cities in America. Still, Lubbock made the list at no. 45 out of 50 cities. Detroit, Michigan came in as the worst-run city in America.

This is what TheStacker wrote about Lubbock's government:

One of the primary focuses of Lubbock city government is health and safety, which is an area where the city ranks among the lowest compared with other U.S. cities. The police department is seeking to become more open to the public to provide a safer environment for its citizens. The Texas city also is concerned about environmental health, including the enforcement of Texas Food Establishment Rules and local ordinances.

Probably not the sort of news city leaders want to hear after the last few days of crime news in Lubbock.