These North Carolina cities rank as some of the nation’s best-run places

Two North Carolina municipalities rank among the best-run cities in the United States, each cracking the top-25 in a new report.

Durham ranked as the 17th and Raleigh the 21st best-run city in the United States, according to personal finance website WalletHub.

“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 Chip Lupo, WalletHub Editor, in a news release. “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.”

WalletHub reviewed 148 of the country’s largest cities to create a “quality of city services” score across six different service categories.

What made Durham stand out?

The Bull City ranked No. 26 for its quality of city services. Here’s where Durham ranked among the six categories:

• Financial stability: This category includes the Moody’s City Credit Rating and outstanding long-term debt per capita. Durham ranked No. 3.
• Education: This category includes the quality of the K-12 school system and the high school graduation rate. Durham ranked No. 24.
• Health: This section includes the average life expectancy, hospital beds per capita, quality of the public hospital system and infant mortality rate. Durham ranked No. 24.
• Safety: This section includes violent and property crime rates, motor vehicle fatalities per capita, perception of safety and share of sheltered people experiencing homelessness. Durham ranked No. 77.
• Economy: This category includes the unemployment and underemployment rates, the income growth rate, the media household income, the number of businesses and change in housing prices, among others. Durham ranked No. 37.
• Infrastructure and pollution: This section measures the quality of the city’s roads, its walkability, its water quality, percentage of parkland and traffic congestions, among others. Durham ranked No. 144.

The city recently passed its $767 million budget without a property tax increase but with an increase to water and sewer bills. The budget also includes funding for a crossing guard pilot program, a one-hour free parking pilot program, buses free for another year and funds for the city’s 5-year plan to reduce homelessness, The News & Observer previously reported.

Durham is home to North Carolina Central University and Duke University, the Museum of Life and Science, Durham Performing Arts Center and the Durham Bulls.

What made Raleigh stand out?

The Capitol city ranked No. 11 for quality of city services. Here’s what Raleigh ranked among the six categories:

• Financial stability: This category includes the Moody’s City Credit Rating and outstanding long-term debt per capita. Raleigh ranked No. 11.
• Education: This category includes the quality of the K-12 school system and the high school graduation rate. Raleigh ranked No. 17.
• Health: This section includes the average life expectancy, hospital beds per capita, quality of the public hospital system and infant mortality rate. Raleigh ranked No. 22.
• Safety: This section includes violent and property crime rates, motor vehicle fatalities per capita, perception of safety and share of sheltered people experiencing homelessness. Raleigh ranked No. 40.
• Economy: This category includes the unemployment and underemployment rates, the income growth rate, the media household income, the number of businesses and change in housing prices, among others. Raleigh ranked No. 21.
• Infrastructure and pollution: This section measures the quality of the city’s roads, its walkability, its water quality, percentage of parkland and traffic congestions, among others. Raleigh ranked No. 100.

Raleigh recently passed its $1.76 billion budget with a property tax increase and funding for 24 new police officer positions, a dozen new firefighter positions and cuts 45 vacant positions within the city. The city is home to several universities, museums, state and local government facilities and recently hosted the Carolina Hurricanes for their Stanley Cup parade and rally.

Earlier this year, the city of Raleigh launched an interactive construction tracker map to help identify closed roads and projects underway throughout the city, The N&O previously reported.

Best-run cities in America

Greensboro ranks 34th and Charlotte ranks 53rd on the list.

Here are WalletHub’s top-five list “best-run” cities:

• Provo, Utah
• Nampa, Idaho
• Manchester, New Hampshire
• Boise, Idaho
• Nashua, New Hampshire

This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 11:14 AM with the headline "These North Carolina cities rank as some of the nation’s best-run places."

Anna Roman

The News & Observer

919-829-4807

Anna Roman is a service journalism reporter for the News & Observer. She has previously covered city government, crime and business for newspapers across North Carolina and received many North Carolina Press Association awards, including first place for investigative reporting.