2026’s Best Places to Bike
By: Jack Foersterling, Senior Content Manager
This year’s City Ratings includes 3,019 U.S. communities with an impressive 555 cities scoring 50 or higher, showcasing nationwide momentum for safe, connected places to ride.
Our annual City Ratings is a data-driven approach to evaluate, compare, and celebrate the best cities for biking in the U.S. Based on data from PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA), each city receives a City Ratings score on a scale of 0-100.
A city’s score represents how well its bike network connects people to jobs, schools, healthcare, shopping, recreation, and other everyday destinations. Cities that score 50 or higher typically have connected, low-stress infrastructure — including slow neighborhood streets, off-street bike paths, and protected bike lanes — that provides safe and easy access to the places people need to go.
Of the 3,019 U.S. cities ranked in this year’s ratings, 555 communities scored 50 or higher, a significant jump from the 234 U.S. cities that scored 50+ in 2025. This impressive growth in highly rated cities highlights national momentum for the safe and connected infrastructure that allows more people to choose biking as an easy and accessible option for everyday trips.
2026’s Best U.S. Cities for Bicycling
Small U.S. Cities (<50,000 population)
1. Mackinac Island, Michigan: 100
2. Old Orchard, Pennsylvania: 100
3. Crested Butte, Colorado: 100
4. Washburn, Wisconsin: 98
5. Kent Narrows, Maryland: 97
6. Earlysville, Virginia: 97
7. Isla Vista, California: 95
8. Berkley, Michigan: 93
9. Sunset, Utah: 93
10. Springdale, Utah: 92
Medium U.S. Cities (50,000–300,000 population)
1. Hoboken, New Jersey: 83
2. Rochester Hills, Michigan: 80
3. Anchorage, Alaska: 72
4. Ames, Iowa: 68
5. Grand Forks, North Dakota: 67
6. Fargo, North Dakota: 67
7. West Bloomfield, Michigan: 67
8. Ankeny, Iowa: 66
9. La Crosse, Wisconsin: 66
10. Boulder, Colorado: 66
Large U.S. Cities (>300,000 population)
1. Brooklyn, New York: 70
2. Minneapolis, Minnesota: 68
3. Seattle, Washington: 66
4. Queens, New York: 63
5. San Francisco, California: 61
6. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 57
7. St. Paul, Minnesota: 56
8. Portland, Oregon: 55
9. Detroit, Michigan: 55
10. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 54
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