Compare the Market just released a new ranking of The World’s Most Sustainable Cities and San Francisco made a respectable appearance in the top-ranked contenders. Out of 50 global cities analyzed, San Francisco came in at #2 in the United States and #15 in the world.
SF was one of just 4 US cities to rank in the top 25. It had decent scores across the board with 85% of energy coming from renewables. Seattle came in ahead of SF at #11 globally and #1 in the US, due to the fact that 99% of its energy is sourced from renewables. Portland and Los Angeles followed SF at #19 and #25 in the global ranking, respectively.
To determine the ranking, Compare the Market evaluated 50 global cities across 5 different factors: air quality, renewable energy, number of parks, average distance to work, and bike infrastructure. Each factor was given a score between 0 and 1 and then summed to create a score out of 5.
According to the ranking, the world’s top 5 sustainable cities are Montreal, Canada; Paris, France; Auckland, New Zealand; Vancouver, Canada; and Reykjavik, Iceland.
European cities were top contenders in the ranking, especially Scandinavian cities such as Oslo, Norway (#6); Malmö, Sweden (#7); Copenhagen, Denmark (#10); Stockholm, Sweden (#12), and Helsinki, Finland (#13).
The least sustainable cities in the world came down to Detroit, USA at #46; Ljubljana, Slovenia at #47; Jakarta, Indonesia at #48; Johannesburg, South Africa at #49; and Mexico City, Mexico at #50.
San Francisco is no stranger to praise, having graced the top of rankings including the world’s best cities for 2024. Resonance ranked SF highly for its innovative start-up culture, wealth, and pursuit of outdoor public spaces. Cutting-edge green spaces like Salesforce Park and Presidio Tunnel Tops sealed the deal, not to mention the “most daring bike and pedestrian infrastructure in America” featuring 464 miles of protected bikeways.
San Francisco also made recent appearances on a list of the world’s coolest neighborhoods and the world’s most beautiful streets.