Where does Houston rank among the country’s best run cities?

HOUSTON – The larger and more diverse the city often means the more complex it can be for city leaders to get their arms around the needs around all of its residents while still remaining fiscally responsible.

That is what made WalletHub’s endeavor that much more interesting as it sought to identify the 150 Best Run Cities in America. Houston came in almost in the middle at No.73, while Fort Worth ranked 51st and Austin came in at 72. San Antonio, meanwhile, ranked No. 89 and Dallas was listed as the 93rd best run city in the country.

The goal WalletHub set when it started this venture was to gauge how efficient cities operate. The publication measured how well city officials manage and spend public funds by examining the quality of services residents receive compared to the city’s over overall budget.

So WalletHub set out examine the operating efficiency of 150 of the largest cities in the U.S. to see which is the best. Not surprisingly, obscure cities like Nampa, ID, Provo, UT and Boise, ID ranked at the top of the list, respectively.

Here is a little more about how WalletHub determined its ranking. A “Quality of Services” score was constructed and was made up of 37 metrics that were grouped into six service categories, which were then measured against the city’s per-capita budget.