People for Bikes Names its Best Places to Ride

What do Minneapolis, Davis, California and Mackinac Island, Michigan have in common? All three were named among the best places to ride in the U.S. People for Bikes, the largest cycling advocacy organization in the U.S., listed them among the best large, medium and small cities in the nation for cycling.

Each year People for Bikes comes out with their list of the best places to ride. To avoid unfair comparisons, PFB groups communities into those with a population of fewer than 50,000 people (small), those with 50,000 to 300,000 residents (medium) and those with more than 300,000 residents (large). They also rate international cities.

Communities are scored on a 100-point scale and the select 10 per category. The criteria for selection are designated by the acronym SPRINT: Save speeds, Protected bike lanes, Reallocated space for cycling, Intersection treatments, Network connections and Trusted data.

2024’s Best Cities for Bicycling

Small Cities (<50,000 population)

• Mackinac Island, Michigan: 99
• Provincetown, Massachusetts: 96
• Harbor Springs, Michigan: 92
• Springdale, Utah: 89
• Washburn, Wisconsin: 89
• Fort Yates, North Dakota: 88
• Crested Butte, Colorado: 87
• Blue Diamond, Nevada: 85
• Murdock, Nebraska: 84
• Sewanee, Tennessee: 83

Medium Cities (50,000-300,000 population)

• Davis, California: 78
• Cambridge, Massachusetts: 72
• Berkeley, California: 71
• Boulder, Colorado: 70
• Corvallis, Oregon: 70
• Ankeny, Iowa: 70
• Ames, Iowa: 66
• Anchorage, Alaska: 64
• Hoboken, New Jersey: 62
• Grand Forks, North Dakota: 61

Large Cities (>300,000 population)

• Minneapolis, Minnesota: 71
• Seattle, Washington: 65
• San Francisco, California: 64
• St. Paul, Minnesota: 61
• Portland, Oregon: 59
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 58
• New York City, New York: 56
• Washington, D.C.: 46
• Denver, Colorado: 46
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 46

International Cities

• The Hague, Netherlands: 89
• Brussels, Belgium: 87
• Paris, France: 87
• Lyon, France: 86
• Utrecht, Netherlands: 86
• Leuven, Belgium: 85
• Munich, Germany: 85
• Amsterdam, Netherlands: 85
• Almere, Netherlands: 85
• Eindhoven, Netherlands: 85