Wise Spenders
Austin declared one of the best-run cities in the country
Opinions on how well the city of Austin is run vary from person to person, but according to a new study from WalletHub, Austin ranks as one of the best-run cities in the entire United States.
On a list that included 65 of the most populated U.S. cities, Austin ties for No. 15. In fact, Texas appears to be one of the best-run states in the country, as it claims 10 of the top 24, including Lubbock (No. 1), Dallas (No. 4), Garland (No. 8), Houston (No. 9), Fort Worth (No. 20) and Arlington (No. 24).
As WalletHub readily acknowledges, the rankings can be taken with a grain of salt. For one, the rankings were determined solely by the return on investment (ROI) cities received in three key categories: education, police, and parks and recreation.
Austin ranked No. 8 in education and No. 9 in parks and recreation; however our No. 73 spot in police dropped down the overall ranking. Austin is tied at No. 15 with Durham, North Carolina.
In a perfect world, WalletHub also would have included how well cities spent money on public transportation and health, but its researchers were not able to find sufficient comparative data to do so.