Raleigh has been named the sixth-best city in the country for drivers and the single best in the Southeast, according to a new national ranking that weighed everything from gas prices to crash odds across 100 major U.S. cities. The Oak City pulled a total score of 61.22, landing just behind Corpus Christi, Texas and well ahead of every other Southeastern metro in the field.
The ranking comes from WalletHub's 2026 “Best & Worst Cities to Drive in” report, which, as reported by CBS 17, compared 30 individual metrics across the nation's 100 largest cities, including average gas prices, commuter congestion time, and crash odds. According to the Arizona Daily Star, those 30 metrics are grouped into four weighted categories: Cost of Ownership & Maintenance, Traffic & Infrastructure, Safety, and Access to Vehicles & Maintenance. Raleigh's strongest showing came in that first category, where it placed second in the nation, and fifth for average parking rates.
Scottsdale, Arizona took the top overall spot with a score of 63.32, followed by Boise, Idaho in second, Fort Wayne, Indiana in third, Lincoln, Nebraska in fourth, and Corpus Christi, Texas rounding out the top five just ahead of Raleigh. On the opposite end of the list, Philadelphia was ranked the worst city in the country for drivers, scoring just 36.35.
The Numbers Behind Raleigh's Ranking
Raleigh's category breakdown tells a mixed story. The city ranked 19th in safety and 34th for average gas prices, but it fell to 36th in annual hours spent in congestion per commuter and 37th in likelihood of an accident versus the national average, per the same CBS 17 report. Access to vehicles and maintenance was a weaker spot too, with Raleigh placing 38th overall, 40th in car theft rates, and 54th in auto repair shops per capita.
Traffic and infrastructure proved to be Raleigh's biggest drag, landing at 57th nationally — a familiar pattern for the city. Back in 2021, Raleigh actually topped WalletHub's driving rankings outright at number one, propelled by low vehicle maintenance costs and high seatbelt compliance, even though it scored just 38th in infrastructure that year, according to WRAL TechWire. Five years and considerable population growth later, that same infrastructure gap is still showing up in the data.
Commute Patterns and Remote Work
The national mean commute was 27.2 minutes in 2024. Commute lengths and remote work can also shape rush-hour traffic, including in Raleigh.
Even with that relief, congestion still costs drivers nationally. The 2025 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard found the average U.S. driver lost 49 hours to traffic congestion in 2025, at an estimated cost of $894 per driver in lost time, according to INRIX. Raleigh's 36th-place congestion ranking sits roughly in the middle of that national picture.
Gas Prices Add Pressure Statewide
Raleigh's middling 34th-place gas price ranking lands at a politically charged moment for North Carolina drivers. North Carolina Republican legislative leaders announced plans this month for a special legislative session to address rising fuel costs, as average gas prices in the state reached $4.03 per gallon, according to WFAE 90.7. That spike in pump prices adds another layer of cost pressure even as Raleigh otherwise scores well for vehicle ownership affordability.
Safety Push Amid Crash Concerns
Raleigh's middle-of-the-pack safety ranking comes as the city pushes its own roadway safety agenda. The Raleigh City Council adopted a Safe Streets for All Comprehensive Safety Action Plan in April 2026 under its Vision Zero initiative, targeting a 50 percent reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes by 2040, according to the City of Raleigh.
Raleigh wasn't the only North Carolina city to crack WalletHub's national top ten this year — Winston-Salem also landed in the top ten overall, placing 10th and ranking 4th nationwide in cost of ownership and maintenance, per Infogram.
