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 53
  3. T-2nd 92 Gatlinburg, TN Fun Score 73
  4. T-2nd 92 Telluride, CO Fun Score 74

Ranked 5–134

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