North Carolina
WalletHub releases list of best & worst states to drive in. Where does North Carolina rank?
Known for its diverse natural beauty and prestigious universities, North Carolina adds another attribute to its allure: ideal driving conditions. A recent WalletHub survey ranks the state at No. 6 on the 2024 Best & Worst States to Drive In.
Driving conditions were compared from all 50 states across 31 indicators of “positive commute” within these four key metrics:
- Cost of Ownership & Maintenance
- Traffic & Infrastructure
- Safety
- Access to Vehicles & Maintenance
More: 11 North Carolina schools are among the best colleges in the U.S., WalletHub says
More: Social media page names Wilmington among top college towns that are vacation destinations
How North Carolina ranks in key categories
North Carolina ranked No. 6 overall, but what specific qualities led to the state achieving this top ranking? Here’s how North Carolina faired across seven distinct categories.
North Carolina ranked highest in the category of lowest auto maintenance cost, coming in at No. 5 behind Mississippi, South Dakota, Georgia and Missouri. States with the highest auto maintenance cost, according to WalletHub, include West Virginia, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and Delaware.
With a similar ranking, North Carolina secured the 7th spot for the category of auto repair shops per capita. The state also ranked No. 10 in the category of car dealerships per capita.
The coastal state ranked No. 18 for both the car theft rate and road quality categories.
For average gas prices, North Carolina was 19th on the list.
Finally, North Carolina’s lowest ranking was in the category of share of rush hour traffic congestion, with a rank of 23.
States in the top ten
Curious which other states on WalletHub’s list have optimal driving conditions? Here’s the top ten states and how they rank:
- Iowa
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Texas
- North Dakota
Achieving the number one spot on the list, Iowa is the best state to drive in “due in part to the fact that it’s a rural state and has one of the lowest rush hour traffic congestion rates in the country,” WalletHub said. Iowa drivers also tend to have shorter commutes, lower gas prices, and low rates of vehicle theft.
States in the bottom ten
While WalletHub highlights the best states for driving, the personal finance company also highlights some of the worst. Here’s a list of states in the bottom ten:
- No. 40 Maryland
- No. 41 Montana
- No. 42 Vermont
- No. 43 Rhode Island
- No. 44 Nevada
- No. 45 Massachusetts
- No. 46 California
- No. 47 West Virginia
- No. 48 Delaware
- No. 49 Washington
- No. 50 Hawaii
More information about the metrics used and the methodology of the study can be found on the WalletHub webpage here.
North Carolina
North Carolina man extradited to Pa. for $100,000 ATM theft spree: police
A 42-year-old North Carolina man on Tuesday was extradited to Pennsylvania after state police said he stole more than $100,000 from ATMs in Snyder and Union counties.
Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, Antoni J. Garcia-Cordoba, of Raleigh, North Carolina, stole from four ATMs at Central Penn Bank and Trust locations, state police said.
In a five-hour span, Garcia-Cordoba took $43,000 from three separate ATMs in Snyder and Union counties, according to a police report. On Oct. 1, he stole an additional $58,000 from an ATM in Titusville, bringing the total amount stolen to $101,000.
Garcia-Cordoba is charged with two counts of corrupt organizations – employee, a first-degree felony, and two counts of theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony.
After being in custody at a jail in Boone County, Missouri, Garcia-Cordoba was extradited to Union County on Tuesday.
He is being held in the Union County Prison after being unable to post $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
North Carolina
11 firefighters and 2 others injured after North Carolina house fire and explosion
SALISBURY, N.C. — Eleven firefighters and two other people were injured in a house fire explosion in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, officials said.
Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell said firefighters did not have life-threatening injuries but were getting treated for contusions, concussions and smoke inhalation following the fire Monday evening. Two other people were taken to the hospital, but Parnell said he didn’t know their conditions and couldn’t confirm whether they were in the house at the time of the fire.
The Salisbury Fire Department responded to the single-family home around 5 p.m. and found it engulfed in flames.
Eleven of the 22 firefighters at the scene went inside the house to search for occupants and “get water on that fire,” which preceded the explosion, Panell said at a news conference.
“It was enough force that the outside walls blew out, the roof came up and went back down,” Parnell said.
An investigation of the fire and explosion is continuing.
North Carolina
Harrison Bertos scores in OT to help Washington beat N.C. State 3-2 and win first Men’s College Cup
CARY, N.C. (AP) — Harrison Bertos scored 1:54 into overtime after Washington blew a two-goal lead in the second half, and the Huskies beat North Carolina State 3-2 to win the Men’s College Cup at First Horizon Stadium on Monday night.
It was the first national championship for unseeded Washington (16-6-2), who became the first team to win six road matches in the tournament — beating six seeded teams along the way under the guidance of coach Jamie Clark. The Huskies won in their second trip to the final after losing 2-0 to Clemson in 2021.
No. 15 seed N.C. State (16-3-4) made the final for the first time behind coach Marc Hubbard. The Wolfpack were aiming for the school’s first national championship since Jim Valvano led the men’s basketball team to the title in 1983.
Zach Ramsey scored unassisted with 1:12 remaining in the first half and Washington took a 1-0 lead into the break. It was only the second time this season that N.C. State trailed at halftime.
Ramsey scored into an empty net after Wolfpack goalkeeper Logan Erb couldn’t corral the ball at the top of the box. It was Ramsey’s second goal of the tournament.
Richie Aman sent a cross to the center of the goal and Joe Dale knocked it in for a 2-0 lead in the 62nd minute.
Donavan Phillip answered in the 66th, scoring with an assist from Nikola Markovic to cut it to 2-1 with his fourth goal of the tournament. The Wolfpack entered 11-0-1 when Phillip scores.
Taig Healy scored the equalizer with 3:28 remaining with assists from Justin Mclean and Calem Tommy.
Egor Akulov had an assist on Bertos’ winner.
Huskies keeper Jadon Bowton, the only remaining player from the 2021 squad, had five saves.
Erb saved six shots for N.C. State, which was the last school to concede a goal this season.
The temperature was 28 degrees when the match between two teams that had never faced each other began.
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