Philadelphia beats LA and New York as the worst place to drive in the United States according to new study
Published on Oct 12, 2025 at 7:51 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Oct 09, 2025 at 9:12 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
Drivers in Philadelphia have the roughest time, according to a new report that ranks the city the worst place to drive in the United States.
The new study, carried out by WalletHub, analyzed data from America’s 100 biggest cities.
The figures revealed that Philadelphia can easily claim the decidedly undesirable title of the worst place to drive in the United States.
Also appearing in the bottom 10 were Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.
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Here’s what makes Philadelphia the worst place to drive in the United States
The study compared the 100 largest cities in America and then compared them across 30 key driver-friendliness metrics.
The 30 metrics could be divided into four categories: cost of ownership and maintenance, traffic infrastructure, access to vehicles and maintenance, and safety.
They included things like, the cost of gas, the price of a new car, average commute times, and rate of car thefts.
Philadelphia scored low across numerous areas, like accident likelihood, high vehicle costs, traffic congestion, and poor road conditions.
But while it may now claim the title of the worst place to drive in the United States, there were several others that made it pretty close.
Right behind Philly was Oakland followed by Washington DC and New York.
Chicago was revealed to be the fifth worst place to drive in the United States, followed by San Francisco, Detroit and Los Angeles.
San Jose and Baltimore also made it into the top 10, taking the ninth and 10th spots respectively.
What about the other end of the scale?
While the cities above have all earned themselves a spot on the naughty list, at the other end of the scale Raleigh in North Carolina was found to be the best place to drive in America.
The study’s authors said Raleigh took first place largely because it’s an inexpensive city, but it also scored highly for safety and road maintenance.
Trailing just behind Raleigh was Boise in second place, followed by Corpus Christi, and Greensboro.
Florida did well, making it into the top 10 three times.
It took the fifth and sixth spots with Jacksonville and Orlando, respectively, and ninth spot with Tampa.
Scottsdale came in seventh, with Wichita in the eighth spot.
Rounding out the top 10 best cities to drive was Plano.
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
