San Antonio roadways are no picnic, but a new report by WalletHub names the Alamo City on its list of the best U.S. cities to drive in for 2025.
The annual report examined 100 of the largest U.S. cities to determine their “driver friendliness” using 30 relevant metrics across four key dimensions: Costs for vehicle ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, safety, and vehicle and maintenance accessibility.
San Antonio came in as the 25th most driver-friendly U.S. city with high marks on areas like cost of ownership and maintenance.
No. 1 on the list was none other than the Gulf Coast city of Corpus Christi. Other Texas cities that made the top 10 include Laredo (No. 5), Lubbock (No. 6), Plano (No. 8), and Austin (No. 9).
According to WalletHub’s findings, San Antonio ranked No. 6 in the national category for “cost of ownership and maintenance.” This category analyzed factors like average monthly car insurance premiums, auto maintenance costs, average gas prices, the cost of a new car, and other metrics.
San Antonio drivers also benefit from the 4th cheapest average gas prices nationwide. AAA says the current average price for regular gas in Bexar County comes out to $2.606 per gallon.
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, about 87 percent of a household’s daily travel is done in personal vehicles, underscoring just how dependent Americans are on their cars rather than public transportation methods like buses and trains.
“Drivers annually spend an average of more than 369 hours on the road,” the report’s author wrote. “That’s 15.4 days. Add the costs of wasted time and fuel due to traffic congestions, and our collective tab comes to about $771 per driver each year.”
Other Texas cities that earned spots on the list include Arlington (No. 18), Garland (No.24), Fort Worth (No. 27), Irving (No. 29), El Paso (No. 30), and Dallas (No. 47). Garland also earned a small shout out in the report for having the 5th-most auto-repair shops per capita in the nation.
Poor Houston was No. 66, the lowest-ranked Texas city on the list for 2025.
WalletHub’s top 10 best U.S. cities to drive in for 2025 are:
No. 1 – Corpus Christi, TexasNo. 2 – Greensboro, North CarolinaNo. 3 – Boise, IdahoNo. 4 – Scottsdale, ArizonaNo. 5 – Laredo, TexasNo. 6 – Lubbock, TexasNo. 7 – Birmingham, AlabamaNo. 8 – Plano, TexasNo. 9 – Austin, TexasNo. 10 – Winston-Salem, North Carolina