Where Are the Most Bike-Friendly Cities in America?

Cycling is becoming an increasingly popular activity in America, especially during the pandemic when so many are stuck at home. Bike sales soared in 2020 as people were looking for a safe activity to keep them active during quarantine.

The following visualization from e-bike manufacturer Tower Electric Bikes analyzed a variety of data points to determine the most bike-friendly cities in America as well as the least bike-friendly.

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The graphic compares the percentage of bike commuters, percentage of recreational cyclists, cyclist fatality rate, as well as a score of how well-connected and accessible each particular city is for cyclists to create an overall Bike Friendliness Score. It uses a pin map visualization to point out each of the most and least bike-friendly cities on the U.S. map, color coding each pin to its Bike Friendliness Score. Below the map is a breakdown of the individual statistics as well as bar charts illustrating each city’s score. All data originated from PeopleForBikes.org.

Topping the list of bike-friendly cities is Crested Butte, CO. The city is generally regarded as the birthplace of mountain biking and attracts recreational cyclists from around the country. While Crested Butte is a relatively small city, many larger metro areas make the list as well like Arlington (#8), Manhattan (#12), and Seattle (#13).

In terms of the least bike-friendly cities, many larger cities with poor bike-friendly accessibility to key destinations top the list. Cities like Los Angeles (#1), Houston (#2), and Phoenix (#3) have low numbers of bike commuters, high cyclist fatality rates, and a lack of bike connectivity to locations like grocery stores and schools, making them less hospitable to cyclists.