Analysis: Chicago among worst cities to drive in

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(THE Center Square) – Republican Illinois state Sen. Steve McClure is speeding up the pace in his quest to make area roads safe after a new “Best & Worst Cities to Drive In” 2025 survey placed Chicago near the bottom among the 100 largest cities.

As part of their study, WalletHub researchers compared 30-driver-friendliness indicators across categories that include costs, congestion and safety with Chicago ranking 96th overall, including 99th for traffic and infrastructure and 76th for safety. Researchers also weighed such variables as gas prices, insurance rates and road quality.

As someone who has long fought for road and infrastructure improvements, McClure argues that when it comes to assessing blame, all roads lead back to Springfield.

“The requirements for projects in Illinois are very time consuming to go through and all of these boxes have to be checked for the project to begin,” he told The Center Square, adding that even with funds being readily available for work to commence on various projects, red tape has gotten in the way.

“Only certain companies even have enough employees to do the work right now because there’s a labor shortage as well,” he said. “It’s also, there hasn’t been enough initiative of state government to get these things done.”

As indicators continue to trend in the wrong direction, McClure argues more residents than ever are being forced to pay the price.

“People want to operate their businesses in areas where the roads are safe, bridges are safe, and the infrastructure is not deteriorating,” he said. “The state of our roads and bridges and public transportation, that all factors into decisions businesses make as to whether they’re going to certain locations. It’s certainly hurting Chicago and it’s hurting Illinois. Chicago is a beautiful city, but when you’ve got roads that need to be repaired and roads with potholes and roads with issues and bridges with issues, it just makes the city look worse than it should.”

With researchers concluding that the average American spends roughly 269 hours a year behind the wheel, Corpus Christi, Texas, was ranked as the best city to drive in and Philadelphia as the worst.