Chicago Ranks as One of the Worst Run-Cities While Oklahoma City is in Top 5 of Best-Run

Chicago Ranks as One of the Worst Run-Cities While Oklahoma City is in Top 5 of Best-Run

A study by WalletHub concluded that Chicago, IL, is one of the worst-run cities, while Oklahoma City, OK, is one of the best-run cities.

WalletHub studied the 148 most populous cities in America. It looked at six categories: financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution.

“The best-run cities in America use their budgets most effectively to provide high-quality financial security, education, health, safety and transportation to their residents,” said Cassandra Happe, a WalletHub analyst. “Many of the top cities also have a very low amount of outstanding government debt per capita, which can prevent financial troubles in the future.”

Why did I choose these two cities? I’m from Chicago and live in Oklahoma City.

There are many reasons why I chose OKC over Chicago, even though the latter will always be home.

I wish the study had more details.

Chicago

Chicago ranked 137th. The bloated budgets and spending contributed the most to the ranking. What a shock.

Financial stability rank? 148. The city’s long-term debt outstanding per capita ranks 145th.

Economy rank? 126.

Chicago’s debt stands at $43,000 per taxpayer, totaling around $40 billion. That’s on top of Illinois’s debt at $42,000 per taxpayer. It’s awful:

Chicago’s accumulating debt might be bearable if the city had low taxes and therefore room to raise them and pay down some of the liabilities. But taxes in the Windy City already rank among the nation’s harshest. According to a national study, Chicago’s combined city and state taxes would eat up over 12 percent of a U.S. median family income. The only large cities with higher proportionate taxes are Rust Belt towns with much smaller populations, such as Detroit and Newark. Chicago imposes the highest sales tax of any major city (10.25 percent) and punishing property taxes, too.

Chicago’s taxation is also brutal on businesses. A recent study of 53 cities found that Chicago’s tax on industrial properties was nearly double the average of other cities. Chicago’s commercial property-tax rate, at more than 4 percent per year, was by far the worst of any major city and more than twice the average.

High debt and taxes might be manageable if the city’s economic fundamentals were strong. They’re not. Chicago relied for years on commercial properties, especially downtown offices in the Loop, to power its economy and fund the city’s excesses. But those jobs are fleeing. Downtown Chicago’s office vacancy rate recently approached 24 percent, a record high. Boeing has moved its headquarters from the Loop to Northern Virginia. These white-collar firms will not pay the city’s higher taxes in the future; they won’t even pay their existing leases.

The cost of living and taxes have forced people out of the city. Yeah the city has 2.7 million, barely holding on as America’s third-largest city, “but it’s a quarter smaller than it was about a half-century ago.”

Those who stay in the city make way less than the national median household income. Over 50% of the residents live in poverty.

One Chicago resident left the city when it doubled her property taxes in 2023, totaling over $7,100. The property taxes went up 1,000% in 20 years!

Then again, people have been fleeing Illinois for years because of taxes and spending, and it’s corrupt.

I’m shocked Chicago ranked 45th under safety. It’s a violent city.

For some reason, WalletHub ranked OKC 70th in safety. I feel safer in OKC than Chicago!!

Oklahoma City

I usually HATE praising Oklahoma City because I don’t want leftists from California or Illinois moving here. Keep it a friendly, conservative state where we love our guns, pray openly before athletic games, and rarely have traffic.

But man. I love Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. I even chose it over Texas. (I moved to Houston in 1996, moved to Oklahoma State in 2000, moved back to Houston for a job in 2004, and, due to life changes, chose to move back to OKC over Illinois in 2010!)

Wallet Hub ranked OKC’s financial stability 8th and its economy 32nd.

OKC’s population has exploded because it’s a great place to live. The cost of living is BEYOND reasonable. My house in Illinois would easily cost almost $800,000. What did I pay? $360,000. I also live on a popular golf course. There’s a reason why houses in my neighborhood rarely go on the market. When they do, they don’t last long.

Overall, Oklahoma “has the fifth-best economic outlook among the 50 U.S. states.” It also has low property taxes and corporate income taxes. Also:

Another report, this one from Site Selection Group, shows the state is now the ninth best state for manufacturing, up from No. 11 in 2022.

The location advisory, economic incentives and real estate services firm ranks states based on variables crucial to manufacturers. This includes factors such as labor volume and skills, operating costs, organized labor presence and accessibility – all pivotal elements in the manufacturing sector.

Among neighboring states, Texas (No. 4) is the only one that ranks higher than Oklahoma and Arkansas (No. 17) is the only other state in the Top 20.
“Oklahoma has demonstrated remarkable growth and potential in this sector,” Kelly Dexter, director of communications for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, wrote this month in the VeloCity newsletter.

“With over 1,285 payrolled manufacturing business establishments in Oklahoma City, the sector is a hotbed for innovation and development. This dynamism is a critical factor in attracting new investments and sustaining long-term growth in the industry,” Dexter wrote.

Gov. Kevin Stitt is pushing to repeal the state income tax. Yes, I hate the income tax. But when you add my property tax and income tax…it’s less than my property taxes in Houston.

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