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Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World

Published

February 15, 2020 11:22 am

100 Most Spoken Languages

Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Worldwide

Even though you’re reading this article in English, there’s a good chance it might not be your mother tongue. Of the billion-strong English speakers in the world, only 33% consider it their native language.

The popularity of a language depends greatly on utility and geographic location. Additionally, how we measure the spread of world languages can vary greatly depending on whether you look at total speakers or native speakers.

Today’s detailed visualization from WordTips illustrates the 100 most spoken languages in the world, the number of native speakers for each language, and the origin tree that each language has branched out from.

How Do You Define A Language?

The data comes from the 22nd edition of Ethnologue, a database covering a majority of the world’s population, detailing approximately 7,111 living languages in existence today.

The definitions of languages are often dynamic, blurring the lines around a singular understanding of what makes a language:

Linguistic: focused on lexical and grammatical differences, or on variations within speech communities
Social: focused on cultural or political factors, as well as heritage and identity

For the purposes of measurement, the researchers use the ISO 693-3 set of criteria, which accounts for related varieties and dialects—ensuring that linguistics are not the only factor considered in this count of languages.

Here are the language origins of the 100 most spoken languages:

Indo-European languages have the widest spread worldwide. According to Ethnologue, the language family contains over 3 billion speakers in total. Interestingly, there are actually 1,526 Niger-Congo languages altogether, though only 12 are represented here.

Let’s now dive into the top 10 most spoken languages overall.

Which Languages Have the Most Speakers?

It comes as no surprise that English reigns supreme, with over 1.1 billion total speakers—or roughly 15% of the global population. Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and French round out the top five.

Rank	Language	Total Speakers	Language Origin
1	English	1,132 million	Indo-European
2	Mandarin Chinese	1,117 million	Sino-Tibetan
3	Hindi	615 million	Indo-European
4	Spanish	534 million	Indo-European
5	French	280 million	Indo-European
6	Standard Arabic	274 million	Afro-Asiatic
7	Bengali	265 million	Indo-European
8	Russian	258 million	Indo-European
9	Portuguese	234 million	Indo-European
10	Indonesian	199 million	Austronesian

However, this is only one piece in the full fabric of languages.

The metrics for native speakers tell a slightly different tale, as Mandarin Chinese shoots up to 918 million—almost 2.5x that of English native speakers.

Rank	Language	Native Speakers	Language Origin
1	Mandarin Chinese	918 million	Sino-Tibetan
2	Spanish	460 million	Indo-European
3	English	379 million	Indo-European
4	Hindi	341 million	Indo-European
5	Bengali	228 million	Indo-European
6	Portuguese	221 million	Indo-European
7	Russian	154 million	Indo-European
8	Japanese	128 million	Japanic
9	Western Punjabi	93 million	Indo-European
10	Marathi	83 million	Indo-European

Note: No native speaker data was available for Filipino, Standard Arabic, Nigerian Pidgin, or Cameroonian Pidgin.

Here, Spanish comes in strong second for native speakers with 460 million, considering it’s well-used across Latin America. The Indian languages of Hindi and Bengali cap off the top five by native speakers as well.

These are the biggest languages people learn growing up, but what about the ones they pick up later in life?

What About Second (L2) Languages?

Nearly 43% of the world’s population is bilingual, with the ability to switch between two languages with ease.

From the data, second language (L2) speakers can be calculated by looking at the difference between native and total speakers, as a proportion of the total. For example, 66% of English speakers learned it as a second language.

Swahili surprisingly has the highest ratio of L2 speakers to total speakers—although it only has 16 million native speakers, this shoots up to 98 million total speakers. Overall, 82% of Swahili speakers know it as a second language.

Swahili is listed as a national or official language in several African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s likely that the movement of people from rural areas into big cities in search of better economic opportunities, is what’s boosting the adoption of Swahili as a second language.

Indonesian is another similar example. With a 78% proportion of L2 speakers compared to total speakers, this variation on the Malay language has been used as the lingua franca across the islands for a long time. In contrast, only 17% of Mandarin speakers know it as a second language, perhaps because it is one of the most challenging languages to learn.

Keeping Language Traditions Alive

Languages are fluid, and constantly evolving—altogether, the 100 most spoken languages paint a unique picture across centuries of a changing world. Here’s the full list of these languages, by types of speakers and language origin.

Rank	Language	Total Speakers	Native Speakers	Origin
1	English	1,132M	379M	Indo-European
2	Mandarin Chinese	1,117M	918M	Sino-Tibetan
3	Hindi	615M	341M	Indo-European
4	Spanish	534M	460M	Indo-European
5	French	280M	77M	Indo-European
6	Standard Arabic	274M	NA	Afro-Asiatic
7	Bengali	265M	228M	Indo-European
8	Russian	258M	154M	Indo-European
9	Portuguese	234M	221M	Indo-European
10	Indonesian	199M	43M	Austronesian
11	Urdu	170M	69M	Indo-European
12	Standard German	132M	76M	Indo-European
13	Japanese	128M	128M	Japanic
14	Swahili	98M	16M	Niger-Congo
15	Marathi	95M	83M	Indo-European
16	Telugu	93M	82M	Dravidian
17	Western Punjabi	93M	93M	Indo-European
18	Wu Chinese	82M	81M	Sino-Tibetan
19	Tamil	81M	75M	Dravidian
20	Turkish	80M	69M	Turkic
21	Korean	77M	77M	Koreanic
22	Vietnamese	77M	76M	Austronesian
23	Yue Chinese	74M	73M	Sino-Tibetan
24	Javanese	68M	68M	Austronesian
25	Italian	68M	65M	Indo-European
26	Egyptian Spoken Arabic	65M	65M	Afro-Asiatic
27	Hausa	63M	44M	Afro-Asiatic
28	Thai	61M	21M	Kra-Dai
29	Gujarati	61M	56M	Indo-European
30	Kannada	56M	44M	Dravidian
31	Iranian Persian	53M	53M	Indo-European
32	Bhojpuri	52M	52M	Indo-European
33	Southern Min Chinese	50M	50M	Sino-Tibetan
34	Hakka Chinese	48M	48M	Sino-Tibetan
35	Jinyu Chinese	47M	47M	Sino-Tibetan
36	Filipino	45M	NA	Austronesian
37	Burmese	43M	33M	Sino-Tibetan
38	Polish	40M	40M	Indo-European
39	Yoruba	40M	38M	Niger-Congo
40	Odia	38M	34M	Indo-European
41	Malayalam	38M	37M	Dravidian
42	Xiang Chinese	37M	37M	Sino-Tibetan
43	Maithili	34M	34M	Indo-European
44	Ukrainian	33M	27M	Indo-European
45	Moroccan Spoken Arabic	33M	27M	Afro-Asiatic
46	Eastern Punjabi	33M	33M	Indo-European
47	Sunda	32M	32M	Austronesian
48	Algerian Spoken Arabic	32M	29M	Afro-Asiatic
49	Sudanese Spoken Arabic	32M	32M	Afro-Asiatic
50	Nigerian Pidgin	30M	NA	Indo-European
51	Zulu	28M	12M	Niger-Congo
52	Igbo	27M	27M	Niger-Congo
53	Amharic	26M	22M	Afro-Asiatic
54	Northern Uzbek	25M	25M	Turkic
55	Sindhi	25M	25M	Indo-European
56	North Levantine Spoken Arabic	25M	25M	Afro-Asiatic
57	Nepali	25M	16M	Indo-European
58	Romanian	24M	24M	Indo-European
59	Tagalog	24M	24M	Austronesian
60	Dutch	23M	23M	Indo-European
61	Sa'idi Spoken Arabic	22M	22M	Afro-Asiatic
62	Gan Chinese	22M	22M	Sino-Tibetan
63	Northern Pashto	21M	21M	Indo-European
64	Magahi	21M	21M	Indo-European
65	Saraiki	20M	20M	Indo-European
66	Xhosa	19M	8M	Niger-Congo
67	Malay	19M	16M	Austronesian
68	Khmer	18M	17M	Austronesian
69	Afrikaans	18M	7M	Indo-European
70	Sinhala	17M	15M	Indo-European
71	Somali	16M	16M	Afro-Asiatic
72	Chhattisgarhi	16M	16M	Indo-European
73	Cebuano	16M	16M	Austronesian
74	Mesopotamian Spoken Arabic	16M	16M	Afro-Asiatic
75	Assamese	15M	15M	Indo-European
76	Northeastern Thai	15M	15M	Kra-Dai
77	Northern Kurdish	15M	15M	Indo-European
78	Hijazi Spoken Arabic	15M	15M	Afro-Asiatic
79	Nigerian Fulfulde	14M	14M	Niger-Congo
80	Bavarian	14M	14M	Indo-European
81	Bamanankan	14M	4M	Niger-Congo
82	South Azerbaijani	14M	14M	Turkic
83	Northern Sotho	14M	5M	Niger-Congo
84	Setswana	14M	6M	Niger-Congo
85	Souther Sotho	14M	6M	Niger-Congo
86	Czech	13M	11M	Indo-European
87	Greek	13M	13M	Indo-European
88	Chittagonian	13M	13M	Indo-European
89	Kazakh	13M	13M	Turkic
90	Swedish	13M	10M	Indo-European
91	Deccan	13M	13M	Indo-European
92	Hungarian	13M	13M	Uralic
93	Jula	12M	2M	Niger-Congo
94	Sadri	12M	5M	Indo-European
95	Kinyarwanda	12M	12M	Niger-Congo
96	Cameroonian Pidgin	12M	NA	Indo-European
97	Sylheti	12M	10M	Indo-European
98	South Levantine Spoken Arabic	12M	12M	Afro-Asiatic
99	Tunisian Spoken Arabic	12M	12M	Afro-Asiatic
100	Sanaani Spoken Arabic	11M	11M	Afro-Asiatic

One reason these languages are popular is that they are actively and consistently used. Unfortunately, nearly 3,000 (about 40%) of all languages are at risk of being lost, or are already in the process of dying out today.

Languages play a crucial role in our daily lives. … [Their] losses have huge negative impacts indigenous peoples’ most basic human rights.

—UN, IYoIL statement

As a result, the United Nations declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYoIL), with a resolution to continue fostering these languages and pass on their knowledge for future generations.

Related Topics:africa languages english chinese spanish native speakers world languages total speakers hindi mandarin swahili

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Mapped: The Most Walkable Cities in the U.S. & Canada

San Francisco narrowly beats New York as the most walkable large city in the U.S. and Canada, while 90 of 130 cities remain car-dependent.

Published

October 11, 2026 11:01 am

Niccolo Conte

A map of the U.S. and Canada marking the 20 most walkable cities with at least 200,000 residents, ranked by Walk Score.

Which Cities in the U.S. and Canada Are the Most Walkable?

Key Takeaways

San Francisco’s walkability score (88.7 out of 100) edges out New York (88.0) as the most walkable city in the U.S. and Canada.
Jersey City ranks third (86.6), ahead of Boston (82.8), and is one of seven smaller cities in major metropolitan areas to make the top 20.
Six of the 20 most walkable cities are in the Northeast and five are in California. Vancouver is the only Canadian city in the top 20.

Being able to walk to a grocery store, pharmacy, or café without getting in a car is an important consideration for many people choosing where to live.

But walkability depends on more than pedestrian-friendly streets. City boundaries also play a major role, helping explain why some smaller cities outperform much larger neighbors.

This map shows the 20 most walkable of the 130 U.S. and Canadian cities with at least 200,000 residents, using Walk Score’s 2021 city ranking, the latest it has published. Scores range from 0 to 100 and reflect proximity to everyday amenities, population density, and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure.

Compact Cities Are the Most Walkable in the U.S. and Canada

Even the highest-ranked cities fall short of Walk Score’s 90-point threshold for a “Walker’s Paradise,” where daily errands don’t require a car.

All eight Northeastern cities in the 130-city ranking score above 50, averaging 74.7, and six make the top 20: New York, Jersey City, Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, and Buffalo. The West has seven top-20 cities, five in California, but its 39 cities average only 48.7.

The table below ranks the 20 most walkable cities in the U.S. and Canada by Walk Score on a 0–100 scale:

Rank	City	State/Province	Walk Score (Out of 100)
1	🇺🇸 San Francisco	California	88.7
2	🇺🇸 New York	New York	88.0
3	🇺🇸 Jersey City	New Jersey	86.6
4	🇺🇸 Boston	Massachusetts	82.8
5	🇨🇦 Vancouver	British Columbia	79.8
6	🇺🇸 Chicago	Illinois	77.2
7	🇺🇸 Washington, DC	District of Columbia	76.7
8	🇺🇸 Miami	Florida	76.6
9	🇺🇸 Newark	New Jersey	75.9
10	🇺🇸 Oakland	California	75.3
11	🇺🇸 Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	74.8
12	🇺🇸 Seattle	Washington	74.4
13	🇺🇸 Long Beach	California	73.3
14	🇺🇸 Minneapolis	Minnesota	71.4
15	🇺🇸 Arlington	Virginia	71.2
16	🇺🇸 Los Angeles	California	68.6
17	🇺🇸 Hialeah	Florida	67.9
18	🇺🇸 Portland	Oregon	67.3
19	🇺🇸 Santa Ana	California	67.1
20	🇺🇸 Buffalo	New York	66.6

City limits help explain some of the surprising results. Walk Score rates roughly every block in a city, weighted by where people live, so a city whose borders contain mostly its dense urban core can score higher than one that stretches into the suburbs.

That’s how Jersey City (86.6) ranks third, ahead of Boston (82.8). It covers just 15 square miles of land across the Hudson River from Manhattan, about one-twentieth the area of New York City (300 square miles), according to Census Bureau data.

Six other smaller cities in major metropolitan areas also make the top 20: Newark, Oakland, Long Beach, Arlington, Hialeah, and Santa Ana. Los Angeles shows the reverse pattern. Its 469 square miles include much of the San Fernando Valley, and it ranks 16th (68.6), behind neighboring Long Beach (73.3).

Vancouver Is the Only Canadian City Among the 20 Most Walkable

Vancouver ranks fifth (79.8). Across all 22 Canadian cities in the ranking, the average Walk Score is 47.6, nearly identical to the 47.8 average for the 108 U.S. cities.

Transit is where Canadian cities pull ahead. They average a Transit Score of 51.8, compared with 36.0 for U.S. cities, and 17 of the 22 score higher on transit than on walkability. Among the 101 U.S. cities with a Transit Score, only New York and Charlotte do.

The table below shows the Walk Score of all 130 cities, along with their Transit Score and Bike Score:

Rank	City	State/Province	Score (Out of 100)
Rank	City	State/Province	Walk	Transit	Bike
1	🇺🇸 San Francisco	California	88.7	77.1	72.3
2	🇺🇸 New York	New York	88.0	88.6	69.3
3	🇺🇸 Jersey City	New Jersey	86.6	70.5	63.9
4	🇺🇸 Boston	Massachusetts	82.8	72.4	69.4
5	🇨🇦 Vancouver	British Columbia	79.8	74.4	78.9
6	🇺🇸 Chicago	Illinois	77.2	65.0	72.2
7	🇺🇸 Washington, DC	District of Columbia	76.7	68.7	69.5
8	🇺🇸 Miami	Florida	76.6	57.0	64.0
9	🇺🇸 Newark	New Jersey	75.9	65.0	51.1
10	🇺🇸 Oakland	California	75.3	56.6	65.5
11	🇺🇸 Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	74.8	67.0	66.7
12	🇺🇸 Seattle	Washington	74.4	59.6	71.1
13	🇺🇸 Long Beach	California	73.3	48.9	70.1
14	🇺🇸 Minneapolis	Minnesota	71.4	55.0	83.5
15	🇺🇸 Arlington	Virginia	71.2	58.6	72.3
16	🇺🇸 Los Angeles	California	68.6	52.9	58.7
17	🇺🇸 Hialeah	Florida	67.9	39.0	50.6
18	🇺🇸 Portland	Oregon	67.3	49.3	82.7
19	🇺🇸 Santa Ana	California	67.1	43.3	62.2
20	🇺🇸 Buffalo	New York	66.6	47.5	62.8
21	🇺🇸 Honolulu	Hawaii	65.7	56.3	51.0
21	🇺🇸 St. Louis	Missouri	65.7	42.6	57.7
23	🇨🇦 Montréal	Quebec	65.4	67.0	72.6
24	🇺🇸 Baltimore	Maryland	64.3	53.2	53.4
25	🇺🇸 Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	62.4	55.2	54.9
26	🇺🇸 Milwaukee	Wisconsin	61.5	48.7	57.6
27	🇺🇸 Denver	Colorado	61.2	44.6	71.8
28	🇨🇦 Toronto	Ontario	61.0	78.2	61.0
29	🇺🇸 Rochester	New York	60.7	41.3	59.9
30	🇺🇸 St. Paul	Minnesota	60.4	46.4	64.0
31	🇨🇦 Burnaby	British Columbia	60.1	66.8	59.5
32	🇺🇸 New Orleans	Louisiana	58.0	43.9	65.7
33	🇺🇸 Cleveland	Ohio	57.1	43.9	52.3
34	🇺🇸 Anaheim	California	55.7	33.9	52.3
35	🇨🇦 Longueuil	Quebec	54.4	52.5	69.6
36	🇺🇸 San Diego	California	53.3	37.3	43.0
37	🇺🇸 Detroit	Michigan	51.1	35.7	52.1
38	🇺🇸 Richmond	Virginia	50.9		50.8
39	🇺🇸 San Jose	California	50.5	40.1	61.5
40	🇺🇸 Paradise	Nevada	50.1	38.1	50.1
41	🇺🇸 Fremont	California	49.9	36.3	54.4
42	🇺🇸 Madison	Wisconsin	49.7	34.9	65.5
43	🇨🇦 Hamilton	Ontario	49.6	45.4	50.3
44	🇺🇸 Tampa	Florida	49.5	31.3	55.2
45	🇺🇸 Spokane	Washington	49.2	36.0	52.1
46	🇺🇸 Cincinnati	Ohio	49.1	44.1	35.6
47	🇺🇸 Sacramento	California	49.0	33.9	66.9
48	🇨🇦 Mississauga	Ontario	48.9	56.0	54.1
49	🇨🇦 Winnipeg	Manitoba	48.5	51.2	61.1
50	🇺🇸 Omaha	Nebraska	48.2	24.0	41.7
51	🇺🇸 Atlanta	Georgia	47.7	43.7	41.7
52	🇺🇸 Houston	Texas	47.5	36.2	48.6
53	🇺🇸 Fresno	California	46.6	33.1	58.1
54	🇺🇸 Toledo	Ohio	46.4		45.6
55	🇨🇦 Surrey	British Columbia	46.1	47.1	55.9
56	🇺🇸 Dallas	Texas	46.0	38.9	49.3
57	🇺🇸 Norfolk	Virginia	45.8	35.7	46.9
58	🇨🇦 Saskatoon	Saskatchewan	45.7	45.0	31.7
59	🇺🇸 Chula Vista	California	45.6	35.4	41.2
60	🇨🇦 Ottawa	Ontario	45.1	49.5	63.6
61	🇺🇸 San Bernardino	California	45.0	30.9	43.6
61	🇺🇸 Des Moines	Iowa	45.0	30.1	39.4
63	🇺🇸 Irving	Texas	44.8	28.7	42.0
64	🇨🇦 Kitchener	Ontario	44.6	46.8	54.9
64	🇨🇦 Québec	Quebec	44.6	46.9	59.3
66	🇺🇸 Lincoln	Nebraska	44.1	24.3	58.5
67	🇺🇸 Stockton	California	43.7	25.4	52.4
68	🇺🇸 Tucson	Arizona	43.2	34.5	66.3
68	🇺🇸 Irvine	California	43.2	25.7	69.5
70	🇨🇦 Laval	Quebec	43.1	46.3	57.3
71	🇺🇸 St. Petersburg	Florida	43.0	33.5	58.5
72	🇺🇸 Riverside	California	42.7	29.9	48.9
73	🇺🇸 Albuquerque	New Mexico	42.6	28.6	60.9
74	🇺🇸 Aurora	Colorado	42.5	35.2	53.3
74	🇨🇦 Brampton	Ontario	42.5	53.3	54.8
76	🇨🇦 Windsor	Ontario	42.4	37.9	52.3
77	🇺🇸 Las Vegas	Nevada	42.0	35.5	46.5
78	🇺🇸 Austin	Texas	41.7	34.8	54.0
79	🇺🇸 Phoenix	Arizona	41.4	35.6	55.9
80	🇺🇸 Columbus	Ohio	41.2	30.2	47.7
81	🇺🇸 Orlando	Florida	41.1	32.7	56.8
82	🇺🇸 Plano	Texas	40.5	14.8	52.0
83	🇺🇸 El Paso	Texas	40.4	28.0	42.0
84	🇺🇸 Corpus Christi	Texas	40.3	26.6	42.1
85	🇺🇸 Garland	Texas	40.2	29.2	40.6
85	🇺🇸 Glendale	Arizona	40.2	33.5	56.5
85	🇺🇸 Reno	Nevada	40.2	24.2	52.0
85	🇨🇦 Edmonton	Alberta	40.2	48.6	39.5
89	🇺🇸 Baton Rouge	Louisiana	39.1		44.3
89	🇨🇦 Calgary	Alberta	39.1	49.5	50.1
91	🇺🇸 Tulsa	Oklahoma	39.0	22.7	47.2
91	🇺🇸 Lubbock	Texas	39.0	20.6	42.5
93	🇨🇦 London	Ontario	38.6	45.0	52.8
94	🇺🇸 Boise	Idaho	38.5	22.6	62.3
95	🇺🇸 Arlington	Texas	38.1	0.3	39.5
96	🇺🇸 Mesa	Arizona	37.9	27.0	59.6
97	🇨🇦 Gatineau	Quebec	37.4	40.8	57.6
98	🇺🇸 Bakersfield	California	37.3	24.6	43.7
99	🇺🇸 San Antonio	Texas	36.9	30.9	44.5
100	🇺🇸 Laredo	Texas	36.8		39.6
101	🇺🇸 Colorado Springs	Colorado	36.1	18.8	44.7
102	🇺🇸 Chandler	Arizona	35.4	24.4	55.4
103	🇺🇸 Kansas City	Missouri	35.3	25.5	35.0
104	🇺🇸 Memphis	Tennessee	35.0	22.2	41.2
105	🇺🇸 Fort Worth	Texas	34.9	21.6	38.6
106	🇺🇸 Wichita	Kansas	34.8	19.7	43.9
106	🇨🇦 Vaughan	Ontario	34.8	42.8	44.3
108	🇨🇦 Markham	Ontario	34.5	49.3	46.8
109	🇺🇸 Louisville	Kentucky	34.3	27.3	43.3
109	🇺🇸 Lexington-Fayette	Kentucky	34.3	26.6	45.7
111	🇺🇸 Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	34.1	16.9	40.2
112	🇺🇸 North Las Vegas	Nevada	33.7	33.3	48.5
113	🇺🇸 Birmingham	Alabama	33.2	21.5	30.7
114	🇺🇸 Virginia Beach	Virginia	33.1	20.7	41.7
115	🇺🇸 Scottsdale	Arizona	31.9	23.3	56.4
116	🇺🇸 Fort Wayne	Indiana	31.7	21.7	41.0
117	🇺🇸 Raleigh	North Carolina	31.3	29.4	39.3
118	🇺🇸 Indianapolis	Indiana	31.0	24.9	42.8
119	🇺🇸 Anchorage	Alaska	30.9	21.6	51.8
120	🇺🇸 Durham	North Carolina	30.3	27.5	37.6
121	🇺🇸 Henderson	Nevada	30.0	24.6	43.5
122	🇺🇸 Greensboro	North Carolina	29.4		32.2
123	🇺🇸 Gilbert	Arizona	29.0	15.1	52.6
124	🇺🇸 Nashville	Tennessee	28.8	21.7	29.7
125	🇺🇸 Charlotte	North Carolina	26.4	27.4	31.3
126	🇺🇸 Montgomery	Alabama	25.8	16.4	32.9
127	🇺🇸 Jacksonville	Florida	25.6	20.8	40.5
128	🇺🇸 Winston-Salem	North Carolina	22.5		29.2
129	🇺🇸 Fayetteville	North Carolina	21.4		29.7
130	🇺🇸 Chesapeake	Virginia	21.3	13.9	34.7

One notable omission from the top 20 is Toronto. Its Transit Score of 78.2 is second only to New York’s (88.6), yet its Walk Score of 61.0 ranks 28th, below Buffalo (66.6) and Pittsburgh (62.4).

City boundaries help explain the difference. Toronto’s current borders date to a 1998 merger that combined the old City of Toronto with five neighboring municipalities, including the postwar suburbs of North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke. Its score now blends downtown’s dense streets with suburban neighborhoods laid out for driving, all served by the same subway and bus network.

The same split appears in the suburbs north of Toronto. Markham (34.5) and Vaughan (34.8) both rank among the 25 least walkable cities, yet Markham’s Transit Score of 49.3 is higher than that of all but 17 of the 101 U.S. cities.

The Least Walkable Cities in the U.S. Are Mostly in the South

Southern cities average a Walk Score of 41.0 and account for 13 of the 20 least walkable cities, including eight of the bottom 10.

Chesapeake, Virginia (21.3), Fayetteville, North Carolina (21.4), and Winston-Salem, North Carolina (22.5) rank last. They’re the only three cities scoring below 25, a range where almost all errands require a car.

Many of these cities have expansive boundaries. Chesapeake was created in 1963 when the small city of South Norfolk merged with what remained of Norfolk County, and it now covers 338 square miles of land. Jacksonville (25.6) and Nashville (28.8), also in the bottom 10, merged with their surrounding counties in 1968 and 1963, respectively.

North Carolina’s six cities in the ranking all fall in the bottom 14, from Raleigh (31.3) down to Fayetteville. From 1959 until 2011, state law let cities annex neighboring areas without the consent of landowners there. Charlotte (26.4) now covers 308 square miles of land, more than New York City (300).

Low walkability can have financial consequences for residents who depend on cars for everyday trips. Among households with auto loans, car ownership costs amount to 18.8% of median household income in Alabama and 17.8% in Florida, compared with 10.6% in Massachusetts, home to fourth-ranked Boston.

While these figures reflect statewide costs rather than individual cities, they highlight the broader financial importance of transportation options.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out the global cities residents rate as most walkable on Voronoi.

Maps

Ranked: The 15 Best Colleges in America for 2027

Explore the best colleges in America for 2027, according to Forbes. MIT leads the ranking, with six Ivy League schools in the top 15.

Published

October 11, 2026 7:11 am

Sofie Gilbert

Shareable for America's Top 15 Colleges 2027: pennants for the top five colleges beside a map of the eastern U.S. and the title America's Top 15 Colleges 2027.

What are the Best Colleges in America for 2027?

Key Takeaways

MIT ranks first on Forbes’ 2027 list of America’s top colleges for the second consecutive year.
Six of the eight Ivy League schools appear in the top 15.
California has four institutions in the top 15, including the only two public universities on the list.

MIT has retained its position as America’s top-ranked college, but some of the biggest stories in this year’s ranking come from institutions outside the Ivy League.

This visualization ranks the 15 best colleges in America from Forbes’ 2027 Top Colleges ranking, which evaluates 500 colleges and universities based on student outcomes, including earnings, debt, graduation rates, and academic success.

Which Colleges Made the Top Five?

Princeton and Harvard follow MIT in second and third place, respectively, while Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania round out the top five.

The table below shows all 15 institutions, along with their home states and whether they are public or private.

Rank	Name	State	Type
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	Private not for profit
2	Princeton University	NJ	Private not for profit
3	Harvard University	MA	Private not for profit
4	Columbia University	NY	Private not for profit
5	University of Pennsylvania	PA	Private not for profit
6	Stanford University	CA	Private not for profit
7	California Institute of Technology	CA	Private not for profit
8	Yale University	CT	Private not for profit
9	University of California, Berkeley	CA	Public
10	Vanderbilt University	TN	Private not for profit
11	Johns Hopkins University	MD	Private not for profit
12	University of California, Los Angeles	CA	Public
13	Duke University	NC	Private not for profit
14	Cornell University	NY	Private not for profit
15	Northwestern University	IL	Private not for profit

Unlike rankings that emphasize reputation, Forbes focuses on what students achieve during and after college. Alumni salaries account for 20% of the overall score, while student debt, graduation rates, return on investment, retention, academic success, and alumni leadership make up the rest.

One of the biggest movers was Caltech, which surged 17 places from 24th to seventh. According to Forbes, the California institution also has the highest share of graduates who go on to earn PhDs.

Six Ivy League Schools Make the Top 15

Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Penn, Yale, and Cornell all appear in the top 15. Brown and Dartmouth are the only two Ivy League schools outside the group.

However, several non-Ivy League institutions also rank near the top. MIT leads the list, while Stanford and Caltech place among the top seven, highlighting the strength of some of America’s top non-Ivy League universities.

The results highlight how elite science and technology institutions compete alongside the Ivy League’s most prestigious universities.