The metric US News decided to use is delays and load factors: only good for telling you how angry you'll be after you board, not while you're inside the airport. In that respect it's easy to see why the NYC airports did so badly. If only airlines would stop locking people inside grounded aircraft for hours on end...
But DTW and ORD are definitely not the worst places to be delayed so long as your feet are on terra firma. I would much rather be delayed there than, say, MIA. (shudder)