Calif. Cities Rank Among Best, Worst for Disabled Individuals
Major California cities rank among the best and the worst in the country for individuals with disabilities, according to a new report by WalletHub, KPCC's "KPCC News" reports ("KPCC News," KPCC, 10/6).
Details of Report
For the report, researchers examined the 150 most-populated U.S. cities, including 29 cities in California (WalletHub report, 10/1).
They looked at 23 metrics under three categories:
- Economic environment;
- Quality of life, such as walkability and effectiveness of state Medicaid programs; and
- Health care accessibility and quality, including physicians per capita, public hospital rankings, uninsured rates and other metrics ("KPCC News," KPCC, 10/6).
Findings
According to the report, Rancho Cucamonga ranked 11th in the country for individuals with disabilities. The city ranked:
- 8th for health care accessibility and quality;
- 35th for economic environment; and
- 86th for quality of life.
Other California cities in the top 20 were:
- Santa Clarita, which ranked 18th; and
- Irvine, which ranked 20th.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles ranked 142nd overall out of 150 cities for individuals with disabilities. The city also ranked:
- 46th for quality of life;
- 131st for economic environment; and
- 137th for health care accessibility and quality.
Other California cities in the bottom 20 of the rankings were:
- Santa Rosa, which ranked 135th; and
- Oakland, which ranked 137th.
In addition, four California cities were found to have the highest annual costs for in-home services:
- Fremont;
- Oakland;
- San Francisco; and
- San Jose (WalletHub report, 10/1).