New study finds driving in Bay Area has never been worse

We know the feeling: A new WalletHub study confirms that driving in the Bay Area is as bad as billed. Here are some takeaways from the personal finance site's "Best and Worst Cities to Drive In" survey. We know the feeling: A new WalletHub study confirms that driving in the Bay Area is as bad as billed. Here are some takeaways from the personal finance site's "Best and Worst Cities to Drive In" survey. Photo: -goldy-/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photo: -goldy-/Getty Images/iStockphoto Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close New study finds driving in Bay Area has never been worse 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

A new study of the best and worst U.S. cities to drive in confirms what local motorists already know — getting behind the wheel in the Bay Area is the pits.

The personal finance site WalletHub ranked the 100 largest cities in the country on 29 metrics to determine how driver-friendly each city is. The study looked at cost of ownership and maintenance; traffic and infrastructure; safety; and access to vehicles and maintenance.

In San Francisco, where highway traffic gridlock reportedly is up 80 percent since 2010, it's no wonder motorists are on edge as records for time spent in traffic fall. The beautiful city by the bay came in 99th out of 100, or the second worst of all. It led the nation in highest annual hours spent in congestion per auto commuter (tied with four other cities) and highest gas prices.

Oakland wasn't much better. San Francisco's neighbor was rated third worst, dragged down by expensive gas and a target-rich environment for automobile thieves. Oakland had the highest rate of car theft in the nation, according to the study.

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MORE: SF's commute may have cost the city $10.6 billion last year

As might be expected, bigger cities generally did not fare well in the survey. One reason is large metropolises tend to have longer car commutes simply because the numbers of commuters — many who live far from their workplace —often overwhelm highway capacity. In addition, cities with major highways spanning bridges, like New York and San Francisco, are more prone to bottlenecks.

Here are 10 lowest-ranked cities, according to WalletHub:

91. Chicago

92. Los Angeles

93. Newark, N.J.

94. New York City

95. Boston

96. Seattle

97. Philadelphia

98. Oakland

99. San Francisco

100. Detroit

WalletHub's poster child for horrible driving, Detroit, scored poorly in ownership/maintenance and traffic infrastructure (although not as bad as either San Francisco or Oakland). But Detroit also got severely docked for safety, which included metrics like accident likelihood in city vs. national average; fatality rate per 100,000; and number of hard-braking events per 1,000 miles. Only St. Louis performed worse in this category.

On the other end of the scale, the top 10 cities for driving can be found in only three states — North Carolina, Texas and Florida. All of the cities are under 1 million population.

MORE: 14 aggravating habits of Bay Area drivers

North Carolina apparently is a driver's paradise, scoring four cities in the top seven.

Here are the best-rated cities for driving in America, according to the study:

1. Raleigh, N.C.

2. Corpus Christi, Texas

3. Orlando, Fla.

4. Greensboro, N.C.

5. Plano, Texas

6. Winston-Salem, N.C.

7. Durham, N.C.

8. El Paso, Texas

9. Jacksonville, Fla.

10. Tampa, Fla.

We compiled other interesting takeaways from WalletHub's research in the above slideshow. Have a look!