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This Is the Worst American City to Drive In

Philly earns dubious title from WalletHub, while Texas' Corpus Christi wins 'best city' honors
Posted Oct 7, 2025 7:48 AM CDT
This Is the Worst American City to Drive In
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/wmaster890)

You'll enjoy a more pleasant commute if there's little traffic, few potholes, and it doesn't cost a small fortune to buy and maintain a vehicle for said commute. Easier said than done in Philadelphia, which WalletHub has deemed the worst city in America to drive in. The site looked at the 100 most populated US cities, using 30 metrics across four main categories: cost of ownership and maintenance (gas, insurance, parking costs, etc.); traffic and infrastructure, including total commute times and the quality of local roads and bridges; safety (think traffic fatality rates and car theft rates); and access to vehicles and maintenance, including the number of auto dealers, gas stations, and mechanics per capita. At the top of WalletHub's list for cities amenable to drivers: Corpus Christi, Texas. Check out the top and bottom 10 overall:

Best Cities

  1. Corpus Christi, Texas
  2. Greensboro, North Carolina (No. 1 in "Cost of Ownership & Maintenance" category)
  3. Boise, Idaho
  4. Scottsdale, Arizona (No. 1 in "Traffic & Infrastructure" category)
  5. Laredo, Texas
  6. Lubbock, Texas
  7. Birmingham, Alabama
  8. Plano, Texas
  9. Austin, Texas
  10. Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Worst Cities

  1. Baltimore
  2. San Jose, California
  3. Los Angeles
  4. Detroit
  5. San Francisco
  6. Chicago
  7. New York (last in "Traffic & Infrastructure" category)
  8. Washington, DC
  9. Oakland, California (last in "Cost of Ownership & Maintenance" category)
  10. Philadelphia
See where other cities fell on the list here. (These are the cities where traffic headaches are real.)

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