Mapped: The Most Walkable Cities in the U.S. & Canada

Which Cities in the U.S. and Canada Are the Most Walkable?

Being able to walk to a grocery store, pharmacy, or café without getting in a car is an important consideration for many people choosing where to live.

But walkability depends on more than pedestrian-friendly streets. City boundaries also play a major role, helping explain why some smaller cities outperform much larger neighbors.

This map shows the 20 most walkable of the 130 U.S. and Canadian cities with at least 200,000 residents, using Walk Score’s 2021 city ranking, the latest it has published. Scores range from 0 to 100 and reflect proximity to everyday amenities, population density, and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure.

Compact Cities Are the Most Walkable in the U.S. and Canada

Even the highest-ranked cities fall short of Walk Score’s 90-point threshold for a “Walker’s Paradise,” where daily errands don’t require a car.

All eight Northeastern cities in the 130-city ranking score above 50, averaging 74.7, and six make the top 20: New York, Jersey City, Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, and Buffalo. The West has seven top-20 cities, five in California, but its 39 cities average only 48.7.

The table below ranks the 20 most walkable cities in the U.S. and Canada by Walk Score on a 0–100 scale:

Rank	City	State/Province	Walk Score (Out of 100)
1	San Francisco	California	88.7
2	New York	New York	88.0
3	Jersey City	New Jersey	86.6
4	Boston	Massachusetts	82.8
5	Vancouver	British Columbia	79.8
6	Chicago	Illinois	77.2
7	Washington, DC	District of Columbia	76.7
8	Miami	Florida	76.6
9	Newark	New Jersey	75.9
10	Oakland	California	75.3
11	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	74.8
12	Seattle	Washington	74.4
13	Long Beach	California	73.3
14	Minneapolis	Minnesota	71.4
15	Arlington	Virginia	71.2
16	Los Angeles	California	68.6
17	Hialeah	Florida	67.9
18	Portland	Oregon	67.3
19	Santa Ana	California	67.1
20	Buffalo	New York	66.6

City limits help explain some of the surprising results. Walk Score rates roughly every block in a city, weighted by where people live, so a city whose borders contain mostly its dense urban core can score higher than one that stretches into the suburbs.

That’s how Jersey City (86.6) ranks third, ahead of Boston (82.8). It covers just 15 square miles of land across the Hudson River from Manhattan, about one-twentieth the area of New York City (300 square miles), according to Census Bureau data.

Six other smaller cities in major metropolitan areas also make the top 20: Newark, Oakland, Long Beach, Arlington, Hialeah, and Santa Ana. Los Angeles shows the reverse pattern. Its 469 square miles include much of the San Fernando Valley, and it ranks 16th (68.6), behind neighboring Long Beach (73.3).

Vancouver Is the Only Canadian City Among the 20 Most Walkable

Vancouver ranks fifth (79.8). Across all 22 Canadian cities in the ranking, the average Walk Score is 47.6, nearly identical to the 47.8 average for the 108 U.S. cities.

Transit is where Canadian cities pull ahead. They average a Transit Score of 51.8, compared with 36.0 for U.S. cities, and 17 of the 22 score higher on transit than on walkability. Among the 101 U.S. cities with a Transit Score, only New York and Charlotte do.

The table below shows the Walk Score of all 130 cities, along with their Transit Score and Bike Score:

Rank	City	State/Province	Score (Out of 100)
			Walk	Transit	Bike
1	San Francisco	California	88.7	77.1	72.3
2	New York	New York	88.0	88.6	69.3
3	Jersey City	New Jersey	86.6	70.5	63.9
4	Boston	Massachusetts	82.8	72.4	69.4
5	Vancouver	British Columbia	79.8	74.4	78.9
6	Chicago	Illinois	77.2	65.0	72.2
7	Washington, DC	District of Columbia	76.7	68.7	69.5
8	Miami	Florida	76.6	57.0	64.0
9	Newark	New Jersey	75.9	65.0	51.1
10	Oakland	California	75.3	56.6	65.5
11	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	74.8	67.0	66.7
12	Seattle	Washington	74.4	59.6	71.1
13	Long Beach	California	73.3	48.9	70.1
14	Minneapolis	Minnesota	71.4	55.0	83.5
15	Arlington	Virginia	71.2	58.6	72.3
16	Los Angeles	California	68.6	52.9	58.7
17	Hialeah	Florida	67.9	39.0	50.6
18	Portland	Oregon	67.3	49.3	82.7
19	Santa Ana	California	67.1	43.3	62.2
20	Buffalo	New York	66.6	47.5	62.8
21	Honolulu	Hawaii	65.7	56.3	51.0
21	St. Louis	Missouri	65.7	42.6	57.7
23	Montréal	Quebec	65.4	67.0	72.6
24	Baltimore	Maryland	64.3	53.2	53.4
25	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	62.4	55.2	54.9
26	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	61.5	48.7	57.6
27	Denver	Colorado	61.2	44.6	71.8
28	Toronto	Ontario	61.0	78.2	61.0
29	Rochester	New York	60.7	41.3	59.9
30	St. Paul	Minnesota	60.4	46.4	64.0
31	Burnaby	British Columbia	60.1	66.8	59.5
32	New Orleans	Louisiana	58.0	43.9	65.7
33	Cleveland	Ohio	57.1	43.9	52.3
34	Anaheim	California	55.7	33.9	52.3
35	Longueuil	Quebec	54.4	52.5	69.6
36	San Diego	California	53.3	37.3	43.0
37	Detroit	Michigan	51.1	35.7	52.1
38	Richmond	Virginia	50.9		50.8
39	San Jose	California	50.5	40.1	61.5
40	Paradise	Nevada	50.1	38.1	50.1
41	Fremont	California	49.9	36.3	54.4
42	Madison	Wisconsin	49.7	34.9	65.5
43	Hamilton	Ontario	49.6	45.4	50.3
44	Tampa	Florida	49.5	31.3	55.2
45	Spokane	Washington	49.2	36.0	52.1
46	Cincinnati	Ohio	49.1	44.1	35.6
47	Sacramento	California	49.0	33.9	66.9
48	Mississauga	Ontario	48.9	56.0	54.1
49	Winnipeg	Manitoba	48.5	51.2	61.1
50	Omaha	Nebraska	48.2	24.0	41.7
51	Atlanta	Georgia	47.7	43.7	41.7
52	Houston	Texas	47.5	36.2	48.6
53	Fresno	California	46.6	33.1	58.1
54	Toledo	Ohio	46.4		45.6
55	Surrey	British Columbia	46.1	47.1	55.9
56	Dallas	Texas	46.0	38.9	49.3
57	Norfolk	Virginia	45.8	35.7	46.9
58	Saskatoon	Saskatchewan	45.7	45.0	31.7
59	Chula Vista	California	45.6	35.4	41.2
60	Ottawa	Ontario	45.1	49.5	63.6
61	San Bernardino	California	45.0	30.9	43.6
61	Des Moines	Iowa	45.0	30.1	39.4
63	Irving	Texas	44.8	28.7	42.0
64	Kitchener	Ontario	44.6	46.8	54.9
64	Québec	Quebec	44.6	46.9	59.3
66	Lincoln	Nebraska	44.1	24.3	58.5
67	Stockton	California	43.7	25.4	52.4
68	Tucson	Arizona	43.2	34.5	66.3
68	Irvine	California	43.2	25.7	69.5
70	Laval	Quebec	43.1	46.3	57.3
71	St. Petersburg	Florida	43.0	33.5	58.5
72	Riverside	California	42.7	29.9	48.9
73	Albuquerque	New Mexico	42.6	28.6	60.9
74	Aurora	Colorado	42.5	35.2	53.3
74	Brampton	Ontario	42.5	53.3	54.8
76	Windsor	Ontario	42.4	37.9	52.3
77	Las Vegas	Nevada	42.0	35.5	46.5
78	Austin	Texas	41.7	34.8	54.0
79	Phoenix	Arizona	41.4	35.6	55.9
80	Columbus	Ohio	41.2	30.2	47.7
81	Orlando	Florida	41.1	32.7	56.8
82	Plano	Texas	40.5	14.8	52.0
83	El Paso	Texas	40.4	28.0	42.0
84	Corpus Christi	Texas	40.3	26.6	42.1
85	Garland	Texas	40.2	29.2	40.6
85	Glendale	Arizona	40.2	33.5	56.5
85	Reno	Nevada	40.2	24.2	52.0
85	Edmonton	Alberta	40.2	48.6	39.5
89	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	39.1		44.3
89	Calgary	Alberta	39.1	49.5	50.1
91	Tulsa	Oklahoma	39.0	22.7	47.2
91	Lubbock	Texas	39.0	20.6	42.5
93	London	Ontario	38.6	45.0	52.8
94	Boise	Idaho	38.5	22.6	62.3
95	Arlington	Texas	38.1	0.3	39.5
96	Mesa	Arizona	37.9	27.0	59.6
97	Gatineau	Quebec	37.4	40.8	57.6
98	Bakersfield	California	37.3	24.6	43.7
99	San Antonio	Texas	36.9	30.9	44.5
100	Laredo	Texas	36.8		39.6
101	Colorado Springs	Colorado	36.1	18.8	44.7
102	Chandler	Arizona	35.4	24.4	55.4
103	Kansas City	Missouri	35.3	25.5	35.0
104	Memphis	Tennessee	35.0	22.2	41.2
105	Fort Worth	Texas	34.9	21.6	38.6
106	Wichita	Kansas	34.8	19.7	43.9
106	Vaughan	Ontario	34.8	42.8	44.3
108	Markham	Ontario	34.5	49.3	46.8
109	Louisville	Kentucky	34.3	27.3	43.3
109	Lexington-Fayette	Kentucky	34.3	26.6	45.7
111	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	34.1	16.9	40.2
112	North Las Vegas	Nevada	33.7	33.3	48.5
113	Birmingham	Alabama	33.2	21.5	30.7
114	Virginia Beach	Virginia	33.1	20.7	41.7
115	Scottsdale	Arizona	31.9	23.3	56.4
116	Fort Wayne	Indiana	31.7	21.7	41.0
117	Raleigh	North Carolina	31.3	29.4	39.3
118	Indianapolis	Indiana	31.0	24.9	42.8
119	Anchorage	Alaska	30.9	21.6	51.8
120	Durham	North Carolina	30.3	27.5	37.6
121	Henderson	Nevada	30.0	24.6	43.5
122	Greensboro	North Carolina	29.4		32.2
123	Gilbert	Arizona	29.0	15.1	52.6
124	Nashville	Tennessee	28.8	21.7	29.7
125	Charlotte	North Carolina	26.4	27.4	31.3
126	Montgomery	Alabama	25.8	16.4	32.9
127	Jacksonville	Florida	25.6	20.8	40.5
128	Winston-Salem	North Carolina	22.5		29.2
129	Fayetteville	North Carolina	21.4		29.7
130	Chesapeake	Virginia	21.3	13.9	34.7

One notable omission from the top 20 is Toronto. Its Transit Score of 78.2 is second only to New York’s (88.6), yet its Walk Score of 61.0 ranks 28th, below Buffalo (66.6) and Pittsburgh (62.4).

City boundaries help explain the difference. Toronto’s current borders date to a 1998 merger that combined the old City of Toronto with five neighboring municipalities, including the postwar suburbs of North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke. Its score now blends downtown’s dense streets with suburban neighborhoods laid out for driving, all served by the same subway and bus network.

The same split appears in the suburbs north of Toronto. Markham (34.5) and Vaughan (34.8) both rank among the 25 least walkable cities, yet Markham’s Transit Score of 49.3 is higher than that of all but 17 of the 101 U.S. cities.

The Least Walkable Cities in the U.S. Are Mostly in the South

Southern cities average a Walk Score of 41.0 and account for 13 of the 20 least walkable cities, including eight of the bottom 10.

Chesapeake, Virginia (21.3), Fayetteville, North Carolina (21.4), and Winston-Salem, North Carolina (22.5) rank last. They’re the only three cities scoring below 25, a range where almost all errands require a car.

Many of these cities have expansive boundaries. Chesapeake was created in 1963 when the small city of South Norfolk merged with what remained of Norfolk County, and it now covers 338 square miles of land. Jacksonville (25.6) and Nashville (28.8), also in the bottom 10, merged with their surrounding counties in 1968 and 1963, respectively.

North Carolina’s six cities in the ranking all fall in the bottom 14, from Raleigh (31.3) down to Fayetteville. From 1959 until 2011, state law let cities annex neighboring areas without the consent of landowners there. Charlotte (26.4) now covers 308 square miles of land, more than New York City (300).

Low walkability can have financial consequences for residents who depend on cars for everyday trips. Among households with auto loans, car ownership costs amount to 18.8% of median household income in Alabama and 17.8% in Florida, compared with 10.6% in Massachusetts, home to fourth-ranked Boston.

While these figures reflect statewide costs rather than individual cities, they highlight the broader financial importance of transportation options.

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