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Best and Worst Cities in America for Bicycle Safety

Best and Worst Cities in America for Bicycle Safety

Best and Worst Cities in America for Bicycle Safety

With pleas to increase cycling road safety, it’s clear the world cares about its cyclists staying safe. So, here is the US cycling data to discover the safest and least safe cities for cyclists in the country.

Data Highlights

  • Most of the Top 10 safest cities for cyclists are in California and other west coast states. The fact that Davis, Calif., is the safest city for cycling may be a testament to city leaders’ careful planning and bicycle education safety.
  • Iowa dominates the majority of least-safe cities for cyclists in the US, even with the popular Ragbrai biking event being hosted in The Hawkeye State.
  • Despite being a west coast city, Los Angeles is one of the least safe cities. Why isn’t Southern California as safe as Northern or Central California?
  • Missoula, MT had over 7% of residents report that they use cycling as a main method of transportation to get to work (#6 out of the cities we researched), yet Montana got a 0 for each of our bike law categories.
  • 36 cities that currently have no protected bike lanes have either proposed or are currently working on building protected bike lanes.
  • Alaska has some of the highest spending per capita ($9.71) despite the fact that they have very low percentages of commuters who bike (1.5% in Anchorage and 0% in the other cities we researched).

 

10 Safest Cities

  1. DAVIS, California
  2. BERKELEY, California
  3. BOULDER, Colorado
  4. EUGENE, Oregon
  5. PALO ALTO, California
  6. CHICO, California
  7. MOUNTAIN VIEW, California
  8. FORT COLLINS, Colorado
  9. SANTA BARBARA, California
  10. NEW HAVEN, Connecticut

 

10 Most Dangerous Cities

  1. LOS ANGELES, California
  2. NEW YORK CITY, New York
  3. WEBSTER CITY, Iowa
  4. JAMESTOWN, North Dakota
  5. FARGO, North Dakota
  6. HOUSTON, Texas
  7. WATERLOO, Iowa
  8. SIOUX CITY, Iowa
  9. JOHNSTON, Iowa
  10. DES MOINES, Iowa

Each State’s Safest City

State Name State’s Safest City City’s Safety Ranking
Alabama Birmingham 578
Alaska Anchorage 581
Arizona Tempe 317
Arkansas Fayetteville 331
California Davis 1
Colorado Boulder 3
Connecticut New Haven 10
Delaware Wilmington 492
Florida Gainesville 308
Georgia Sandy Springs 347
Hawaii Honolulu 563
Idaho Boise 567
Illinois Evanston 16
Indiana Bloomington 506
Iowa Iowa City 767
Kansas Wichita 739
Kentucky Alexandria 752
Louisiana Shreveport 412
Maine Portland 301
Maryland Glen Burnie 135
Massachusetts Somerville 58
Michigan Ann Arbor 481
Minnesota Minneapolis 12
Mississippi Jackson 583
Missouri Columbia 526
Montana Missoula 640
Nebraska Lincoln 733
Nevada Paradise 360
New Hampshire Manchester 557
New Jersey Jersey City 408
New Mexico Santa Fe 540
New York Syracuse 537
North Carolina Jacksonville 37
North Dakota Bismarck 777
Ohio Canton 535
Oklahoma Norman 738
Oregon Eugene 4
Pennsylvania Pittsburgh 32
Rhode Island Providence 482
South Carolina Charleston 561
South Dakota Rapid City 736
Tennessee Knoxville 340
Texas Bryan 553
Utah Salt Lake City 30
Vermont South Burlington 307
Virginia Arlington 15
Washington Seattle 290
West Virginia Elkview 490
Wisconsin Madison 421
Wyoming Jackson 737

Methodology

To determine the safest and least safe US cities for bikers, we gathered metrics and data from Census.gov, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, People for Bikes, and The League of American Bicyclists to find the percentage of bike commuters, number of fatal crashes, amount of bike lanes, and what bike laws are in place or in the works in each city. Cities were included if these sources had data for them.

Each metric was then added together with the following weight based on a 100-point scale:

  • Bike commuter: x3
  • Fatal crashes: x6
  • Protected bike lanes: x1
  • Proposed protected bike lanes: x.5
  • Complete street law: x1
  • Safe passing law: x1
  • Statewide bike plan: x1
  • Bike safety emphasis area: x1
  • Spending per capita: x1

Finally, the total 790 cities were ranked based on their overall score.

Keeping Safe Once You Park

When you ride your bike on city streets, you likely worry about your physical safety. But you may also face the risk of bike theft once you park your cycle in public or at home. In fact, the National Bike Registry estimates there are 1.5 million bikes stolen each year, and many thefts occur at home.

About BSG

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