WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Jacksonville is being called Florida’s best-run city in a new national ranking, but several South Florida cities landed much farther down the list.
WalletHub compared 148 of the largest cities in the U.S. for its 2026 “Best- & Worst-Run Cities in America” study. The ranking looked at how efficiently cities provide services compared with how much they spend per resident.
Jacksonville ranked No. 18 overall, the highest of any Florida city included in the study.
Tallahassee followed at No. 29, while St. Petersburg ranked No. 47.
South Florida cities were farther down the list. Miami ranked No. 74, Hialeah ranked No. 75 and Fort Lauderdale ranked No. 108.
Other Florida cities included Orlando at No. 83 and Tampa at No. 100.
Jacksonville is being called Florida’s best-run city in a new national WalletHub ranking (Photo credit: WalletHub)
WalletHub said it created a “quality of services” score using 36 metrics across areas including financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, infrastructure and pollution. That score was then compared with each city’s total budget per capita.
The study used 36 metrics across six categories included: financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution.
Jacksonville’s ranking was boosted by its budget efficiency. The city ranked No. 8 for total budget per capita, though it ranked No. 97 for quality of city services.
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Fort Lauderdale, the closest city on the list to our viewing area, ranked No. 108 overall. Miami and Hialeah were the highest-ranked South Florida cities included in the study.
No Palm Beach County or Treasure Coast cities appeared in WalletHub’s main ranking of 148 cities.
Nationally, Provo, Utah, ranked No. 1, followed by Nampa, Idaho; Manchester, New Hampshire; Boise, Idaho; and Nashua, New Hampshire.
San Francisco ranked last at No. 148.