These California cities are the worst in US for parking availability and cost, study shows
San Francisco and San Diego are two of the worst places to pay for and find car parking in the country.
That’s according to a report from FINN, a vehicle subscription company, which ranked U.S. cities based on the price of monthly parking and parking availability.
The study looked at which U.S. cities have the cheapest and most expensive monthly parking costs, as well as which cities have the best and worst parking availability. San Francisco was one of the worst for paying for parking, while San Diego was the worst for parking availability.
FINN used World Population Review to start with a list of the most populated U.S. cities, then found the lowest price of monthly parking and availability through Spot Hero.
How did California cities rank for cost?
San Francisco ranked second for the most expensive parking at $300 a month. That’s “considerably more expensive than the rest of the country,” according to the report, and “is still, almost $150 cheaper per month than in New York City.” San Francisco also had the most top-rated parking lots.
San Diego ranked sixth for cost at $200.
Here are the top 10 most expensive cities for parking:
No. 1 - New York City at $443.51
No. 2 - San Francisco at $300
Tied for No. 3 - Seattle at $250
Tied for No. 3 - Philadelphia at $250
No. 5 - Washington, D.C., at $225
No. 6 - San Diego at $200
No. 7 - Cleveland at $179
Tied for No. 8 - Boston at $150
Tied for No. 8 - Miami at $150
No. 10 - Chicago at $143.06
For the cheapest parking, Riverside tied for fourth with Nashville, Houston and St. Louis with a monthly cost of $50.
How available is parking in California cities?
Oakland was the California city with the best score for parking availability, ranking fifth (and third for the most top-rated parking lots). San Francisco and Los Angeles followed at seventh and eighth, respectively.
San Diego topped the list for the worst parking availability. It’s one of the most expensive cities to park in and the parking lots lack amenities such as wheelchair accessibility and charging for electric vehicles, according to FINN.
Long Beach tied with Fort Worth, Texas, for the second worst parking availability. The cost of parking in Long Beach was low at $95 monthly compared to San Diego, but there weren’t any parking lots rated as excellent and those lots lacked amenities, FINN found.
Riverside, California, placed sixth.
Here’s the full top 10 for worst parking availability, ranked by their FINN score:
No. 1 - San Diego at 0.66/10
Tied at No. 2 - Fort Worth at 1.27/10
Tied at No. 2 - Long Beach, California at 1.27/10
No. 4 - Indianapolis at 1.58/10
No. 5 - Cleveland at 1.81/10
No. 6 - Riverside, California at 1.85/10
No. 7 - Cincinnati at 2.08/10
No. 8 - San Antonio at 2.12/10
No. 9 - Detroit at 2.20/10
No. 10 - St. Louis at 2.24/10
As far as other parking lot features, Los Angeles placed first for the most wheelchair-accessible parking lots, followed by Oakland at No. 2. San Francisco was fifth.
What is The Sum?
The Sum is your friendly guide to personal finance and economic news.
We’re a team of McClatchy journalists cutting through the financial jargon so you know how these issues impact your life. We verify information from diverse sources and keep the facts front-and-center, making finance and economic news add up for you.
Ready to take the first step to getting your finances under control? You can sign up for our five-week budgeting newsletter at thesum.news.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 2:55 PM.
