4 Tennessee Cities Named Among The 'Worst Run' Cities In The U.S.

Several cities in Tennessee are among the worst run cities in the country based on a new report ranking U.S. cities' local governmental efficacy.

WalletHub looked at nearly 150 of the country's largest cities to see which are well-run machines that are best at serving its constituents and which could use a bit of work. According to the site:

"The larger the city, the more complex it becomes to manage. In addition to representing the residents, local leaders must balance the public's diverse interests with the city's limited resources. That often means not everyone's needs can or will be met. Leaders must carefully consider which services are most essential, which agencies' budgets to cut or boost, and whether and how much to raise taxes, among other decisions."

These are the Tennessee cities that made the list and where the ranked among the rest:

• No. 122: Knoxville
• No. 125: Nashville
• No. 136: Memphis
• No. 148: Chattanooga

Knoxville may be the best run Tennessee city on the list, but it still ranked near the bottom of the list. Chattanooga, however, is among the worst run cities in the entire country, ranking No. 148 overall out of 149 cities after receiving low marks in both quality of city services and total budget per capita. Additionally, Memphis was tied with cities like Detroit and St. Louis for highest rate of violent crime while Nashville tied with cities like New York City and Atlanta for the highest long-term debt outstanding per capita.

Here are the 10 best run cities in the U.S.:

1. Nampa, Idaho
2. Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky
3. Nashua, New Hampshire
4. Boise, Idaho
5. Provo, Utah
6. Lincoln, Nebraska
7. Fort Wayne, Indiana
8. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
9. Las Cruces, New Mexico
10. Missoula, Montana

To determine the list, WalletHub compared 149 cities using six factors: financial stability, education, health, safety, economy and infrastructure & pollution. These factors were then evaluated across 36 relevant metrics, including outstanding long-term debt per capita, high school graduation rate, infant mortality rate, average life expectancy (in years), quality of public hospital system, violent crime rate, shared of sheltered homeless persons, unemployment rate, share of population living in poverty, quality of roads, traffic congestion, walk score, water quality, air pollution and many more.

Check out WalletHub's full report to see more of the best and worst run cities in the country.