Today we’re announcing a new ranking of the best cities in the United States for public transit.
We’ve calculated the Transit Score for 316 cities and almost 7,000 neighborhoods to help home shoppers and apartment hunters find places to live with better commutes and more transportation choices.
Where Can You Live Car-Free?
Here are the best U.S. cities for public transportation.
Rank | City | Transit Score |
---|---|---|
1 | New York | 81 |
2 | San Francisco | 80 |
3 | Boston | 75 |
4 | Washington D.C. | 70 |
5 | Philadelphia | 67 |
New Public Transit Ranking by Region
How does your city compare to other cities in your region? See the full list of cities.
The older Northeast cities with established subway systems have the highest scores. West Coast cities that have made more recent investments in light rail also score well. Although cities in the south have a low average Transit Score of 38, there are many neighborhoods with high scores such as Downtown Houston or the Brickell Neighborhood in Miami.
Living Near Public Transit
There’s growing evidence that buying a house or renting an apartment near public transit is a smart idea.
- First, it’s likely a better investment. The National Association of Realtors found that home values performed 42% better when they were located near public transit1. In Boston, a recent study showed that home prices near public transit outperformed the region by 129%2.
- Living near public transit saves you money. The average American spends $9,859 per year on their car3. Did you know this is the equivalent of a $135,000 mortgage?! Transportation is the second largest expense for American households4.
- And living near good public transit might just make you happier5 — after all, nobody likes being stuck in traffic.
Thinking about buying a new home instead of renting where you can still afford a cable package with NFL RedZone? Real Estate doesn’t come cheap in transit-friendly cities like San Francisco or Washington DC but if you can swing it you’ll certainly reap the rewards.
Walk Score helps you find apartments near public transit with our unique search by commute time features. Download our iPhone app or Android app to find a place to live with a better commute.
Transit Score Ranking Methodology
Our ranking is based on the average resident’s access to public transit in a city. To compute our ranking, we calculated the Transit Score of over 1.9 million locations in 316 cities. We use a population-weighted methodology to compute the average Transit Score for a city. Our top 10 cities list includes cities with populations over 500,000 people. Read more about Walk Score methodology.