Indianapolis ranks low on list of best places to bike
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Indianapolis remains one of the worst cities in the U.S. for getting around on two wheels, per a bicycle advocacy group's new study.
Why it matters: Indy leaders and advocates are trying to navigate the Circle City through a street safety crisis that has disproportionally claimed the lives of bicyclists and pedestrians.
Pedaling the news: Each year, nonprofit PeopleForBikes rates thousands of U.S. cities in its Best Places to Bike rankings.
How it works: Cities are scored on a scale of 0-100 based on "low stress" access to residential areas, jobs and schools, basic needs, recreation, shopping and major transit hubs.
- This year's rankings use a stricter methodology tied to the 2025 NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, with tighter expectations for speed limits, lane design and network connectivity, the group said.
- The updated methodology is meant to better capture what biking feels like in real life.
By the numbers: Indianapolis earned just 20 points, well below the national average of 36.
- That score puts Indy at No. 2485 out of the 3019 cities ranked, and No. 548 in the Midwest.
- Our best grades came for access to shopping centers (31) and areas where other residents live (21).
- Our lowest marks were access to core services (12) and job/schools (16).
The good news: We're up from an overall score of 15 last year, 12 in 2024 and 11 in 2023.
- The city turned in single-digit scores of 7 points in 2020 and 2021, and 8 points in 2022.
Zoom in: Indianapolis lands at No. 29 out of 58 ranked cities in Indiana.
- Central Indiana's suburbs fared better, with Carmel coming in at No. 2 with a score of 62, and Fishers landing at No. 5 with a score of 47.
- The state's No. 1 place to bike is Santa Claus. The Spencer County community with a population of just over 2,500 also ranked No. 33 in the nation with 79 points, making it the only Indiana city to crack the U.S. top 100.
- College towns round out Indiana's top five. Bloomington (56 points) was No. 3 on the list and West Lafayette (51) was No. 4.
- Zionsville (41), Westfield (32) and Noblesville (27) made Indiana's top 20 rankings.
Yes, but: Indiana lags behind overall. None of our cities scored an 80 or higher, which PeopleForBikes considers a "high" rating.
- Just three Indiana cities are ranked in the top 300.
The big picture: Small communities with fewer than 16,000 residents swept the top 10, suggesting that compact places with connected streets and easy access to daily destinations can outperform much larger cities.
Zoom out: Mackinac Island, Michigan (population 583); Old Orchard, Pennsylvania (2,406); and Crested Butte, Colorado (1,639) topped the national list, each scoring a perfect 100.
- Large urban areas that performed well were Brooklyn, New York (70); Minneapolis (68); Seattle (66); Queens, New York (63); and San Francisco (61).
Go deeper: Bike 20, 40 or 60 miles around Indianapolis