Ranking the Most Walkable Cities in the US

Each year Walk Score ranks the top cities for walking, according to its own walk score methodology. In 2011, NYC placed #1. See the rest of the top 10!

1 minute read

July 21, 2011, 12:00 PM PDT

By Victor Negrete


According to the Walk Score website, individual city data is available in a number of formats for use by researchers and urban planners. The website also has links to explain their ranking methodology and why walkability matters.

Walk Score's Top 10 Most Walkable Cities for 2011 are as follows:

1) NYC

2) San Francisco

3) Boston

4) Chicago

5) Philadelphia

6) Seattle

7) Washington DC

8) Miami

9) Minneapolis

10) Oakland

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 in Walk Score

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6, 2026 - Grist

A rendering of a mall turned living space. People walk around a green space surrounded by apartments.

Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future

Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.

October 29, 2026 - Ben Schneider

A car drives through a puddle in NYC

NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project

New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.

November 9 - Smart Cities Dive

Members of the Smoketown CLT gather for a photo

One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing

The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.

November 9 - Reasons to Be Cheerful

Two people stand under mesh coverings shaped like petals

Houston gains petal-shaped cooling infrastructure to make streets more ‘delightful’

The city has installed the pavilions along 15 blocks in Houston.

November 9 - De Zeen

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.