Albuquerque is the 15th-best ran city among 150 of the largest metropolises in the country, according to data gathered from WalletHub, a website which specializes in the gathering of information.
Jill Gonzales, an analyst with the site, said for the ranking's methodology, a research team gathers necessary data from mostly government sources. The data is then aggregated to create rankings for each city, based on the methodology WalletHub has elicited in conjunction with academic experts.
For this study WalletHub analysts examined 150 of the most populated urban areas in the country, taking into account data limitations, she said. These cities were then analyzed across six key dimensions: Financial Stability, Education, Health, Safety, Economy and Infrastructure/Pollution.
Gonzales said the results for these key categories were used to determine the overall score for each city and, in the end, Albuquerque was ranked in the top 15 while still managing to place higher in some dimensions and lower in others.
For instance, Albuquerque ranked high in Financial Stability at 29 while placing lower in Safety Stability at 117, Gonzales said.
"For the Education key dimension we looked at the Great Schools Score and the High School Graduation Rate, both of which were weighted equally,” Gonzalez said. “We did not look at any one school, including UNM, in particular."
UNM students’ reactions to the rankings ranged from surprise to confidence in the categories that Albuquerque dominated, as well as those it fell short in.
Eden Avalos, a sophomore communications students, said he disagreed with the ranking.
“I think 15 is a little too high," Avalos said. " I think a lot of how things are ran could be done a little better, such as the construction on the roads and the homeless situation."
Avalos said he doesn't believe that the homeless populations is receiving enough help and, although he believed Albuquerque is a beautiful city, the ranking was too high considering the problems it currently has.
Avalos said to earn the ranking, the city needs to tackle its deficiencies.
What might that entail?
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“Cleaning up the situation with the drugs in rural parts of Albuquerque, genuinely helping the homeless on the streets," he said. "Getting better leaders in better positions in the government, getting better people in positions of power."
Ryan Hensel, another UNM student, understood the low rankings on safety while also seeing the justification in Albuquerque's success in terms of fiscal stability.
“I can see where Albuquerque can fall short in safety but I understand the standing in financial. We seem to have pretty good financial standing, we always are able to finance large projects and rarely have to cut back. I never see a project that we have to get re-approved for finance problems,” Hensel said.
On the negative score, he suggested the citizens of Albuquerque work to improve the ranking.
“I do always hear about pedestrian accidents. Perhaps we should hold more campaigns for pedestrian’s safety and bicycle safety,” he said.
Matthew Mooneyham, a sophomore engineering major, also agreed with Albuquerque’s Financial Stability placing.
“I think the city handles their money pretty well," he said. "They choose pretty good products to spend our money on such as water drainage. We have one of the best built water drainages for handling floods."
On the ranking overall, Mooneyham saw it as both negative and positive.
“Our ranking financially makes me really happy that my tax dollars are being used wisely overall," he said. "There is still need for improvement but I’m pleasantly surprised we’re being ranked this high especially in how we handle our finances."
