Two North Carolina cities rank among nation’s best for drivers — again. Yes, seriously

Two North Carolina cities rank among the nation’s best for drivers — again.

Yes, seriously.

Raleigh ranks No. 2 and Greensboro is No. 6 on a list of places with shorter commute times, a lower likelihood of crashes, and other qualities that make them driver-friendly, according to results the personal finance website WalletHub published Tuesday, Oct. 10.

While the results may surprise people who get stuck behind the wheel, it’s not the first time the cities have ranked among the best places to be on the road.

In 2021 and 2022, Raleigh topped WalletHub’s rankings, and Greensboro landed in the top 10. A more recent list from ConsumerAffairs found Cary — just outside Raleigh — had some of the nation’s top drivers, McClatchy News reported in July.

For the latest WalletHub rankings, the website said it used data from the U.S. government and other sources to study the 100 largest U.S. cities by population. It scored each place in four categories: costs, safety, access to cars and maintenance, and traffic and infrastructure.

Why did Raleigh, Greensboro rank high?

Of the North Carolina cities that ranked in the top 10, both made their marks when it came to costs, which considered the prices of buying cars and maintaining them. Greensboro boasted the nation’s highest score in that category, while Raleigh didn’t fall far behind.

Raleigh also ranked No. 14 for safety, a measure of traffic-related deaths, seat belt use, car thefts and other similar factors. But North Carolina’s capital city didn’t fare as well in the other two categories, ranking closer to average in them.

Meanwhile, Greensboro ranked No. 18 for traffic and infrastructure after it was found to have one of the lowest times that commuters spend in congestion each year. The city ranked No. 33 for access to cars and maintenance as well as No. 69 for safety.

So, how did other North Carolina cities fare on the national list? Winston-Salem ranked just outside the top 10 at No. 11. Also on the list were Durham at No. 21 and Charlotte at No. 35.

Across the country, the top-ranking place for drivers was Corpus Christi, Texas. Landing at the bottom of the list was Oakland, California.

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