Minneapolis named best big city for biking. St. Paul is cruising not too far behind.

Miles of protected bike lanes have earned Minneapolis the top spot in a 2024 ranking of best large cities for cycling in the U.S.

It is the second year in a row that Minneapolis claimed first place in PeopleForBikes’ annual City Ratings, which score cities of different sizes on a scale of 0 to 100. Minneapolis scored 71 out of 100, beating out all other big cities.

St. Paul wasn’t too far behind, with a score of 61 out of 100. St. Paul rose from 7th place in 2023 to 4th place this year, demonstrating a joint commitment to bike infrastructure in the Twin Cities, the ranking said.

“High-scoring cities often perform well across six factors captured in the acronym SPRINT: safe speeds, protected bike lanes, reallocated space for biking and walking, intersection treatments, network connections, and trusted data,” according to the ranking.

Minneapolis lowered default speed limits on residential streets from 30 to 20 miles per hour and 25 mph on arterial streets, which contributed to its high ranking.

Bike infrastructure has improved around the country post-pandemic. Still, the average bike score for a U.S. city is 25 out of 100.

Other big cities on the top of the list included Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., Philadelphia and New York City.