#United States #Boulder #Biking Safety #PeopleForBikes #City Ratings

PeopleForBikes Unveils 2025 City Ratings

On June 26, 2025, PeopleForBikes, a prominent advocacy organization dedicated to cycling and the bicycle industry in the United States, revealed the much-anticipated 2025 City Ratings. This year marks the eighth iteration of their comprehensive and data-driven analysis aimed at identifying the top locations for cycling in both the U.S. and globally. The results come after an evaluation of 2,901 cities worldwide, providing communities the tools they need to assess their biking infrastructure, recognize areas for improvement, and prioritize projects that contribute to safer biking environments.

The highest-rated cities this year include Mackinac Island, Michigan for small cities, Davis, California for medium-sized cities, and Brooklyn, New York leading the large city category. These rankings highlight the innovative and effective strategies that cities are adopting to enhance their biking networks.

One significant advancement in the 2025 evaluation is the integration of data from the Great Bike Infrastructure Project (GBIP). This program closely monitors the progress of thousands of bike infrastructure projects across the nation. The City Ratings now showcase various improvements such as protected bike lanes and neighborhood greenways, documenting their journey from proposal to completion. According to Grace Stonecipher, the research manager at PeopleForBikes, the connection between developing safe and interconnected infrastructures and elevating a city's biking appeal is essential. “Cities that excel in biking offer more than just bike lanes; they possess a vision for ongoing enhancement,” she emphasized.

Methodology Behind the Ratings

The City Ratings methodology evaluates the connectivity and quality of a city's cycling network. This network comprises protected bike lanes, off-street pathways, slow shared streets, and safe crossings. Each city receives a score ranging from 0 to 100, where lower scores indicate a weaker biking network that lacks safety features or has noticeable gaps, while higher scores reflect cities where most common destinations are easily accessible via safe cycling routes.

These scores are derived from the Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA), which utilizes a rigorous data-driven approach. The assessment focuses on six primary factors captured by the acronym SPRINT:

• - Safe speeds
• - Protected bike lanes
• - Reallocated space
• - Intersection treatments
• - Network connections
• - Trusted data

A crucial metric highlighted by PeopleForBikes is the number of communities achieving a score of 50 or higher. Achieving this threshold indicates significant support for biking initiatives and presents the city with the opportunity for long-term improvements, contributing to a better cycling experience over time.

Notable Improvements for 2025

In the latest ratings, several cities demonstrated remarkable progress in their scores:

• - Park City, Utah climbed from 48 to 61
• - Richfield, Minnesota made strides from 25 to 53
• - Phoenixville, Arizona jumped from 21 to 50
• - Oaks Bluff, Massachusetts improved from 12 to 52
• - Hailey, Idaho surged from 24 to 77
• - Alpena, Michigan saw an increase from 47 to 69

“Data from our City Ratings validates what we've known for years: effective biking infrastructure creates safer and better cycling environments,” expressed Jenn Dice, the president and CEO of PeopleForBikes. The organization reports that the number of U.S. cities scoring 50 or more has surged to 234, up from just 33 in 2019. This growth is a testament to the impact of dedicated investments in biking infrastructures.

Top U.S. Cities for Bicycling in 2025

Here’s a snapshot of the top-rated cities for biking in 2025:

Small Cities (<50,000 population)

• - Mackinac Island, Michigan: 100
• - Provincetown, Massachusetts: 96
• - Sauk City, Wisconsin: 90

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

• - Davis, California: 81
• - Berkeley, California: 73
• - Corvallis, Oregon: 71

Large Cities (>300,000 population)

• - Brooklyn, New York: 73
• - Minneapolis, Minnesota: 72
• - Seattle, Washington: 66

To find out how your city measures up, visit cityratings.peopleforbikes.org.

About PeopleForBikes

PeopleForBikes is a leading national nonprofit organization advocating for biking and the interests of the bicycle industry in the U.S., with over 340 supplier members and nearly 1.4 million individual supporters. Their mission is to build safe, enjoyable, and connected cycling environments through proactive efforts in infrastructure, policy, and promoting participation in cycling. For more information, visit peopleforbikes.org.