Here are the Best Cities to Ride a Bicycle in 2023

PeopleForBikes, a leading organization in promoting cycling, has released its highly anticipated City Ratings for 2023. This data-driven program evaluates, identifies, and compares the best cities and towns worldwide for biking, assisting city leaders in making improvements to enhance biking experiences and ensure safety for all.

The City Ratings scores are generated using PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis, a comprehensive evaluation of bike infrastructure. The analysis encompasses six key factors known as SPRINT: safe speeds, protected bike lanes, reallocated space for biking and walking, intersection treatments, network connections, and trusted data.

This year, 1,484 cities of all sizes across the United States and 249 international cities were rated based on the quality of their bike networks. Each city receives a City Ratings score ranging from 0 to 100. A low score (0-20) indicates a weak bike network with inadequate bikeways or network gaps, while a high score (80-100) signifies that the city offers safe and comfortable bike routes that connect the most common destinations, accommodating people of all ages and abilities. For larger cities, a score of 50 is considered the tipping point to becoming a great place for biking.

To provide a glimpse into the results, here are the top-scoring cities in the small, medium, and large categories within the United States for 2023: Provincetown, Massachusetts; Davis, California; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, respectively. Notably, Minneapolis saw a remarkable improvement of 31 points in its score compared to the previous year, securing its position as the number one large city for biking this year.

There are also exciting newcomers to the top 10 list. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a large city, significantly improved its rating score from 35 to 45, resulting in a substantial increase in ridership across the state. In fact, weekend rides in Wisconsin have increased by 20% compared to 2019, and weekday rides are up by 27%. Additionally, Longmont, Colorado, climbed its way into the top 10 medium-sized cities, with an improved score of 59 in 2023 from 36 in 2022.

Several small cities also made their mark in the top 10 rankings for 2023, including Blue Diamond, Nevada; Murdock, Nebraska; Shorewood, Wisconsin; Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania; and Jackson, Wyoming, which achieved this feat for the first time.

Overall, the average score among all U.S. cities is 23 out of 100. However, the cities in the top 10 boast an average score of 55 out of 100.

While only 5 percent of U.S. cities scored 50 or higher in this year’s rankings, indicating they are great places for biking, over half of the cities scored between 10 and 30.

Speed limits also play a significant role in determining City Rating scores, and many cities are taking steps to improve road safety by reducing speeds. More than half of U.S. cities have speed limits of 25 mph or less on residential roads, while those with higher speed limits have opportunities to enhance their bike networks by implementing speed reductions.

PeopleForBikes has been collecting data for several years, enabling an assessment of changes in the quality of cities’ bike networks over time. The improved data quality is reflected in score changes, as demonstrated in the chart showcasing the five-year data for this year’s top 10 large cities.

Beyond the numbers, the City Ratings program serves as a benchmark for cities to monitor their progress in improving the quality and connectivity of bike networks. It also offers best practices for city leaders, decision-makers, and advocates to identify areas for improvement within their communities, ultimately making cycling a better experience for everyone.