Sensory room at the Fort Wayne International Airport.
Well, the Best & Worst Cities for People with Disabilities in 2026 list is out and we didn’t make the top 10. Wallet Hub scored 182 cities across the United States. How did Fort Wayne fare?
We weren’t in the top 10 but, but we weren’t in the bottom 10. We were, however, almost in the bottom 25% at 133rd. How is that possible when we have been doing so much already?
Wallet Hub’s scoring is made up of three major categories: Health Care, Quality of Life and Economy. They are ranked with each area representing similar weights of a potential of 33.3 points in each category.
We were 45th for the Health Care Ranking, 120th for Quality of Life, and 167th for Economy.
As a community, I like to believe that we try to do our best to make as much as possible fully accessible. To make changes just to increase our score is a bit of the tail wagging the dog perspective.
However, we are doing many things right and we can work to make some of it more measurable to let more people know what we have built here. How discoverable is the information about a location’s accessibility? Are we promoting sensory friendly elements of events?
Wallet Hub isn’t the only company ranking cities. Trajector Medical (a company that helps legally secure disability benefits) scores the 30 best cities for people with disabilities using 14 metrics covering accessibility, affordability and health care. In their ranking Fort Wayne is 8th best as they spotlight some of the outcomes.
- Second lowest percentage of income on mortgage payments
- Fourth lowest percentage of income on rent
- Second highest percentage of wheelchair-accessible rental housing
- Fifth highest number of Medicare-registered nursing homes per 100,000 people with disabilities
- 11th highest number of beds available at Medicare-registered nursing homes per 10,000 people with disabilities
Regardless of where we land in rankings, we can learn what other cities do and explore how we can match or exceed them. I will admit to using AI to identify what top performing cities all share. These included:
- Step free public transit with accessible metro stations and low floor buses.
- High-quality healthcare with disability specialized services.
- Strong economic indicators including affordable housing and higher median income.
- Robust community programs that include independent living centers, paratransit, and home modification programs.
- Accessible parks, trails, and attractions.
- Fast internet for navigation and digital services.
I can agree with these in principle. However, many of these type of ranking surveys are very wheelchair-centric. Let’s consider a few criteria of our own.
- Percentage of public playgrounds with Universal Design elements.
- Number of CARF disability providers (per capita) to choose from.
- Lowest percentage of nursing home residents with IDD under the age of 50.
- Percent of regional high schools with Unified Sports Teams.
- Sensory Friendly festivals, arts events, zoos, and public spaces.
- GoodMaps or other supports in public spaces.
- Percentage of public venues with family friendly restroom w/ adult changing table.
- City/County Disability Advisory Council.
- Active recruitment of conventions, visitors, and tourists targeting inclusive tourism.
- Percent of area secondary institutions that have a Think College program.
- Paralympic sports center and inclusive sports venues.
What else would you include on the list? We know the work we are doing together in building a welcoming region for those with disabilities. Of course, we haven’t conquered all our mountains of ableism, but we’ve made a great start.
