Walkability, Real Estate, and Public Health Data

Walk Score data is used by analysts and researchers in the fields of real estate, urban planning, government, public health, and finance.

Walk Score has received grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to align our algorithms with the latest academic research.

Walk Score data is available via our spreadsheets as well as our APIs. We can provide Walk Score data for individual latitude and longitude points or larger geographic areas like postal codes and census tracts. Walk Score data is available in the United States and Canada. Walk Score and Transit Score are patented systems, multiple other patents are pending.

With our subscription services, Walk Score data can be tracked over time to measure historical trends. For example, the percentage of residents in a city who can walk to fresh food in 5 minutes.

Data Products

“Washington DC is not the only city that is finding Walk Score and Transit Score to be key tools in our planning efforts.”

— Harriet Tregoning, Director,
Washington DC Office of Planning

Walkability and Public Health

Walk Score Correlated With Lower Obesity

The only variable that was statistically significant is the Walk Score index (p=0.048), indicating cities with a higher accessibility of amenities within walking distance are likely to have 1.9% lower rates of adult obesity... Source: Validation of Walk Score for Estimating Neighborhood Walkability: An Analysis of Four US Metropolitan Areas

Walkable Neighborhoods Lead to Better Health

Increasing levels of walkability decrease the risks of excess weight. Approximately doubling the proportion of neighborhood residents walking to work decreases an individual's risk of obesity by almost 10%. Adding a decade to the average age of neighborhood housing decreases women's risk of obesity by about 8% and men's by 13%. Source: Walkability and Body Mass Index

Walk Score Predicts Walking

Walk Score is a consistent predictor of walking, particularly for transport. Walk Score may have utility for planners, public health advocates, or community organizations seeking to characterize the built environment without the time, money, or skills necessary to create GIS-based measures. Source: Walk Score and Transit Score and Walking in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Body Mass Index Change Following Relocation to Higher Walk Score Location

Moving to a location with a 10-point higher Walk Score was associated with a 16 minute plus increase in transport walking which illustrated the potential for neighborhood infrastructure to support health-enhancing behaviors and overall health of people in the United States. Findings based on linking over 700 study participants who moved to a neighborhood walkability measure for each residential location and looked at whether changes in walkability resulting from relocation were associated with simultaneous changes in walking behaviors and BMI. Source: American Journal of Public Health

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Walkability and Real Estate

Walkability Raises Home Values

The walkability of cities translates directly into increases in home values. Homes located in more walkable neighborhoods—those with a mix of common daily shopping and social destinations within a short distance—command a price premium over otherwise similar homes in less walkable areas. Houses with the above-average levels of walkability command a premium of about $4,000 to $34,000 over houses with just average levels of walkability in the typical metropolitan areas studied. Source: CEOs for Cities

Walkability Raises Commercial Property Values

A 10-point increase in Walk Score increases office and retail property values by up to 9% depending on property type. For example, all else being equal, an office or retail building with a score of 80 is worth 54% more per square foot than one scoring 20. The study also found that walkability was associated with lower cap rates and higher incomes, suggesting it has been favored in both the capital asset and building space markets. Source: Gary Pivo, University of Arizona

Walkable Urban Places Perform Better Economically

This study of economic performance across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area found that the average vacancy-adjusted annual office rent in walkable areas is $37 per square foot, compared to $21 for drivable sub-urban office rents, a 75% rental premium. And among for-sale housing, per-square-foot values in walkable places s are 71% higher than the average of all other places. By itself, Walk Score is found to explain 67% of the increase in economic performance of walkable areas. Source: The George Washington University School of Business

In a related study of places within metropolitan Washington, higher walkability was shown to be related to higher economic performance, controlling for a place's household income. On average, each step up the walkability ladder adds $9 per square foot to annual office rents, $7 per square foot to retail rents, more than $300 per month to apartment rents and nearly $82 per square foot to home values. Source: Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings

Location Efficiency and Mortgage Default

Default probability decreases with a higher Walk Score in high income areas but increases with higher Walk Scores in low income areas. These results suggest that some degree of greater mortgage underwriting flexibility could be provided to assist households with the purchase of location efficient homes, without increasing defaults and supports the notion that government policy around land use, zoning, infrastructure, and transportation could have significant impacts on mortgage default rates. Source: Journal of Sustainable Real Estate

Walk Score and Multi-Family Loan Default Risk

This study examined the relationship between Walk Score and default risk in multifamily housing. It used data on more than 36,000 loans in Fannie Mae's multifamily portfolio. After controlling for various other loan, property, neighborhood, borrower, and regional/national economic factors that affect default rates, the work is showing that an increase in Walk Score produces a significant decline in the odds of default. Source: Gary Pivo, University of Arizona

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