Seattle ranks among top 10 bike-friendly cities

Seattle remains a bike-friendly mecca, cracking the top 10 among U.S. cities in two recent rankings.

By the numbers: A Wallethub analysis ranked Seattle the 8th most bike-friendly city in the U.S., while Anytime Estimate slotted us at No. 10.

• The rankings used a variety of metrics to score a city’s bike-friendliness, including geographic traversability, number of cycling commuters and access to trails and bicycle shops.
• Seattle received a bikeability score of 70 out of a possible 100 from Wallethub (deemed "very bikeable"), and 71 from Anytime Estimate (17 points above the national average).

Why it matters: Seattle’s geniality toward biking, while not exactly breaking news, remains a constant trait of the city’s overall livability, even amid spikes in housing costs and overall affordability in recent years.

• Biking became an especially important activity in Seattle and other cities during the pandemic, as Americans turned to cycling as a reprieve from home isolation and as a new commuting option, per the U.S. Census Bureau.

The big picture: Our regional rival, Portland, outranked us on both lists, scoring No. 2 in the Wallethub rankings and No. 1 in the Anytime Estimate list.

• California had the most cities of any state in the top 20, with five on both lists.
• San Francisco ranked highest among California’s cities (#6 Wallethub; #2 Anytime Estimate).

What they're saying: ​​"The West is best when it comes to bike-friendly cities – one-third of our 15 most bike-friendly cities are located on the West Coast," per the Anytime Estimate report.