CityFunIndex

Leaderboard

Best cities for outdoors

Every city in the CityFunIndex, ranked by its Outdoors score. Parks, beaches and easy access to nature.

Cities ranked
134
Top score
93
Average
49

Pillar scores are national percentile ranks on a saturation curve, so the leader of every category lands near the same ceiling — the ranks beneath are still distinct. See how scoring works →

Aspen (93) leads, ahead of Stowe (92) and Gatlinburg (92). Hialeah anchors the bottom at 0 — a 93-point gap.

Regional read 3 of the top 10 here are from Arizona — the most of any single state.

All 134 cities, coloured by outdoors score band. The top-ranked cities draw larger.

  • Quiet
  • Some Fun
  • Fun
  • Very Fun
  • Exceptional

Score spread across all 134 cities

  • Quiet 40
  • Some Fun 26
  • Fun 27
  • Very Fun 21
  • Exceptional 20
  1. 1st 93 Aspen, CO Fun Score 67
  2. T-2nd 92 Stowe, VT Fun Score 44
  3. T-2nd 92 Gatlinburg, TN Fun Score 71
  4. T-2nd 92 Telluride, CO Fun Score 77

Ranked 5–134

  1. T#5 91 Park City, UT Fun Score 74
  2. T#5 91 Sedona, AZ Fun Score 55
  3. T#5 91 Jackson, WY Fun Score 87
  4. T#8 90 Gilbert, AZ Fun Score 31
  5. T#8 90 Chandler, AZ Fun Score 41
  6. T#8 90 Key West, FL Fun Score 71
  7. T#11 89 Santa Fe, NM Fun Score 63
  8. T#11 89 Portland, ME Fun Score 100
  9. T#13 88 Madison, WI Fun Score 97
  10. T#13 88 Lincoln, NE Fun Score 74
  11. T#13 88 Bend, OR Fun Score 80
  12. T#16 87 Honolulu, HI Fun Score 86
  13. T#16 87 Mesa, AZ Fun Score 36
  14. T#18 86 Burlington, VT Fun Score 73
  15. T#18 86 Tucson, AZ Fun Score 47
  16. #20 85 Billings, MT Fun Score 60
  17. T#21 84 Boulder, CO Fun Score 77
  18. T#21 84 Anchorage, AK Fun Score 36
  19. T#23 83 Fargo, ND Fun Score 48
  20. T#23 83 Aurora, CO Fun Score 37
  21. #25 82 Irvine, CA Fun Score 57
  22. #26 81 Colorado Springs, CO Fun Score 51
  23. T#27 80 Kansas City, MO Fun Score 65
  24. T#27 80 Cincinnati, OH Fun Score 92
  25. #29 79 Omaha, NE Fun Score 68
  26. #30 78 Des Moines, IA Fun Score 74
  27. T#31 77 Albuquerque, NM Fun Score 41
  28. T#31 77 Washington, DC Fun Score 93
  29. #33 76 Charleston, SC Fun Score 87
  30. #34 75 Little Rock, AR Fun Score 47
  31. T#35 74 Denver, CO Fun Score 82
  32. T#35 74 Savannah, GA Fun Score 75
  33. #37 73 Bismarck, ND Fun Score 26
  34. #38 72 Napa, CA Fun Score 52
  35. T#39 71 Baltimore, MD Fun Score 76
  36. T#39 71 St. Louis, MO Fun Score 65
  37. #41 70 Charleston, WV Fun Score 61
  38. #42 69 Boise, ID Fun Score 80
  39. T#43 68 Wilmington, DE Fun Score 50
  40. T#43 68 Seattle, WA Fun Score 100
  41. #45 67 Saint Paul, MN Fun Score 64
  42. #46 66 Minneapolis, MN Fun Score 84
  43. T#47 65 Spokane, WA Fun Score 63
  44. T#47 65 Hilton Head Island, SC Fun Score 58
  45. #49 64 Richmond, VA Fun Score 91
  46. #50 63 Santa Barbara, CA Fun Score 83
  47. T#51 62 Toledo, OH Fun Score 45
  48. T#51 62 Detroit, MI Fun Score 45
  49. #53 61 Asheville, NC Fun Score 85
  50. #54 60 Milwaukee, WI Fun Score 70
  51. T#55 59 Glendale, AZ Fun Score 10
  52. T#55 59 Portland, OR Fun Score 81
  53. #57 58 Boston, MA Fun Score 98
  54. #58 57 Cleveland, OH Fun Score 77
  55. T#59 56 Fremont, CA Fun Score 54
  56. T#59 56 Buffalo, NY Fun Score 77
  57. #61 55 Pittsburgh, PA Fun Score 94
  58. #62 54 Tulsa, OK Fun Score 51
  59. T#63 53 Providence, RI Fun Score 78
  60. T#63 53 St. Petersburg, FL Fun Score 46
  61. #65 52 Durham, NC Fun Score 64
  62. #66 51 San Jose, CA Fun Score 62
  63. T#67 50 Hartford, CT Fun Score 64
  64. T#67 50 Sioux Falls, SD Fun Score 40
  65. #69 49 Oklahoma City, OK Fun Score 25
  66. #70 48 Manchester, NH Fun Score 55
  67. T#71 47 Reno, NV Fun Score 66
  68. T#71 47 Birmingham, AL Fun Score 58
  69. #73 46 Austin, TX Fun Score 67
  70. #74 45 Virginia Beach, VA Fun Score 49
  71. T#75 44 Fort Wayne, IN Fun Score 49
  72. T#75 44 Raleigh, NC Fun Score 64
  73. #77 43 Oakland, CA Fun Score 61
  74. #78 42 Columbus, OH Fun Score 60
  75. T#79 41 Corpus Christi, TX Fun Score 20
  76. T#79 41 Indianapolis, IN Fun Score 48
  77. #81 40 Lubbock, TX Fun Score 32
  78. #82 39 Santa Clarita, CA Fun Score 30
  79. T#83 38 Atlanta, GA Fun Score 88
  80. T#83 38 Chesapeake, VA Fun Score 44
  81. #85 37 Phoenix, AZ Fun Score 40
  82. #86 36 Henderson, NV Fun Score 13
  83. T#87 35 Sacramento, CA Fun Score 54
  84. T#87 35 Tampa, FL Fun Score 70
  85. #89 34 North Las Vegas, NV Fun Score 4
  86. #90 33 San Diego, CA Fun Score 74
  87. T#91 32 San Francisco, CA Fun Score 96
  88. T#91 32 Plano, TX Fun Score 40
  89. #93 31 Charlotte, NC Fun Score 54
  90. #94 30 Orlando, FL Fun Score 65
  91. T#95 29 Norfolk, VA Fun Score 56
  92. T#95 29 Riverside, CA Fun Score 21
  93. #97 28 Louisville, KY Fun Score 55
  94. #98 27 Greensboro, NC Fun Score 59
  95. T#99 26 Bridgeport, CT Fun Score 41
  96. T#99 26 Jacksonville, FL Fun Score 19
  97. #101 25 Chicago, IL Fun Score 56
  98. #102 24 Philadelphia, PA Fun Score 45
  99. T#103 23 Nashville, TN Fun Score 60
  100. T#103 23 Wichita, KS Fun Score 15
  101. #105 22 Lexington, KY Fun Score 69
  102. #106 21 New Orleans, LA Fun Score 64
  103. T#107 20 Baton Rouge, LA Fun Score 28
  104. T#107 20 Jackson, MS Fun Score 25
  105. #109 19 Houston, TX Fun Score 41
  106. #110 18 Dallas, TX Fun Score 38
  107. T#111 17 Bakersfield, CA Fun Score 0
  108. T#111 17 Garland, TX Fun Score 0
  109. #113 16 Scottsdale, AZ Fun Score 46
  110. #114 15 Irving, TX Fun Score 20
  111. T#115 14 Fort Worth, TX Fun Score 18
  112. T#115 14 Montgomery, AL Fun Score 41
  113. #117 13 El Paso, TX Fun Score 21
  114. #118 12 San Antonio, TX Fun Score 22
  115. T#119 11 Jersey City, NJ Fun Score 43
  116. T#119 11 Las Vegas, NV Fun Score 35
  117. #121 10 Arlington, TX Fun Score 17
  118. #122 9 Laredo, TX Fun Score 10
  119. T#123 8 Stockton, CA Fun Score 2
  120. T#123 8 Anaheim, CA Fun Score 41
  121. #125 7 Winston-Salem, NC Fun Score 32
  122. #126 6 Memphis, TN Fun Score 14
  123. T#127 5 New York, NY Fun Score 54
  124. T#127 5 Newark, NJ Fun Score 36
  125. #129 4 Long Beach, CA Fun Score 31
  126. #130 3 Fresno, CA Fun Score 23
  127. T#131 2 Miami, FL Fun Score 55
  128. T#131 2 Santa Ana, CA Fun Score 32
  129. #133 1 Los Angeles, CA Fun Score 38
  130. #134 0 Hialeah, FL Fun Score 18

Outdoors is measured from OpenStreetMap parks, nature reserves, playgrounds and beaches, plus National Park Service units and Recreation.gov federal facilities.