With a seemingly never-ending rush hour, congestion and high gas prices, driving in California can be an extremely stressful task.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, determined which cities were the most driver-friendly, and it’s no surprise that some cities from the Golden State performed poorly.
The study evaluated 100 of the largest cities in the U.S. based on 30 metrics compiled into four categories: Cost of ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, safety and access to vehicles and maintenance, resulting in a 100-point graded scale.
Irvine, located in Orange County, was the highest-ranked California city on the list, earning the 19th spot and an overall score of 61.01 out of 100.
California cities that earned a spot on the list:
34th: Chula Vista (San Diego County)
43rd: Riverside (Riverside County)
50th: Sacramento (Sacramento County)
51st: Bakersfield (Kern County)
55th: Long Beach (Los Angeles County)
68th: Fresno (Fresno County)
71st: San Diego (San Diego County)
73rd: Fremont (Alameda County)
76th: Stockton (San Joaquin County)
77th: San Bernardino (San Bernardino County)
81st: San Jose (Santa Clara County)
91st: Los Angeles (Los Angeles County)
97th: San Francisco (San Francisco County)
Oakland, located in Alameda County in Northern California, was the lowest-ranked California city, earning the 98th spot.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the lowest-ranked city in the study.
Raleigh, North Carolina, was ranked the best city for drivers.
The complete list can be found here.
The ranking is a part of WalletHub’s 2022 Best Places rankings.