How It Works
Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address based on the distance from your house to nearby amenities. Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty the area is for walking.
What does my score mean?
Your Walk Score is a number between 0 and 100. Here are general guidelines for interpreting your score:
- 90–100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
- 70–89 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car.
- 50–69 = Somewhat Walkable: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
- 25–49 = Car-Dependent: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
- 0–24 = Car-Dependent (Driving Only): Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!
The Walk Score™ Algorithm
Walk Score uses a patent-pending system to measure the walkability of an address. The Walk Score algorithm awards points based on the distance to the closest amenity in each category. If the closest amenity in a category is within .25 miles (or .4 km), we assign the maximum number of points. The number of points declines as the distance approaches 1 mile (or 1.6 km)—no points are awarded for amenities further than 1 mile. Each category is weighted equally and the points are summed and normalized to yield a score from 0–100. The number of nearby amenities is the leading predictor of whether people walk.1
Your Walk Score may change as our data sources are updated or as we improve our algorithm. Check out how Walk Score doesn't work.
What do you think makes a neighborhood walkable?
Visit WalkScore.org to vote on improvements to Walk Score and join the discussion about how to best measure walkability.
We sampled the Walk Score of 1,123,855 locations in the largest 40 U.S. cities to rank 2,508 neighborhoods on walkability.
We used these points to create a walkability map for each city, where walkable neighborhoods show up as green and unwalkable neighborhoods as red.
The most walkable neighborhoods are calculated by applying the Walk Score algorithm block by block throughout the city. We weight the Walk Scores by population density (2000 Census) and group them into neighborhood boundaries provided to us by Zillow. Our neighborhood rankings have the same known issues as the Walk Score algorithm.
Curious to learn more about the rankings? Read our detailed methodology page.
Read our Frequently Asked Questions.
GIS consulting provided by:
