NEW YORK – Providence is No. 10 in Forbes magazine’s first ranking of “America’s Most Miserable Cities.” A new Misery Measure, developed by the magazine, was used to rank the nation’s 150 largest metropolitan areas.
The index is the sum of a community’s rankings (from 1 to 150) on each of six criteria: local unemployment, income tax rates, commute times, the number of local Superfund sites, the violent crime rate and the weather. Data came from Oregon researcher Burt Sperling and research firm Economy.com.
Detroit came in at No. 1, with a Misery Measure of 696, with high scores in violent crime (1.251 incidents per year for every 100 residents), Superfund sites and unemployment.
No. 2 was Stockton, Calif., with high scores on everything but weather contributing to its rating of 689. Next were Flint, Mich. (675); New York City (668); Philadelphia (648); Chicago (634); Los Angeles (632); Modesto, Calif. (631); Charlotte, N.C. (625); and Providence (611).
Rhode Island’s capital city fared worst in income taxes, where the 9.9-percent rate won it a rank of 149th. “Only New York City,” with a rate of 10.5 percent, “fares worse than Providence when it comes to income tax rates,” Forbes noted. “Residents are fleeing the area, with a net migration of 20,000 out of the area over the past four years.”
In other criteria, the Providence metro area was 121st for unemployment, 111st for Superfund sites, 110th for weather (but wait a minute – it’ll change), 69th for commute times and 51st for violent crime.
Forbes magazine is a weekly business journal based in New York City. To learn more about Forbes – or to read “America’s Most Miserable Cities” and view the associated slide show – visit www.forbes.com.
Wasn't that way under Buddy's reign.