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How walkable is New Orleans?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
New Orleans has a walkability score of 75 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 13th most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with 3 others.
What's within walking distance of the center
2,303 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central New Orleans. The nearest grocery is about a minute away on foot. Every category earns full or nearly full points.
Groceries
- Bourbon Blues Co, 3 min
- St Louis Market, 3 min
Restaurants & bars
- Fahy's Irish Pub, 2 min
- Jester Mardi Gras Daiquiris and Pizza, 2 min
Shopping
- Nola Gifts To Go, 1 min
- Bayou Threads Gifts, 1 min
Coffee
- Perk Coffee & Community, 3 min
- Royal Blend Coffee & Tea House, 3 min
Banks
- Regions Bank (ATM), 5 min
- Hancock Whitney Bank, 6 min
Parks
- Jackson Square, 6 min
- Oscar Dunn Park, 8 min
Schools
- Homer A. Plessy Community School, 8 min
- Kipp Mcdonogh 15 School For The Creative Arts, 8 min
Books & libraries
- Arcadian Books & Art Prints, 4 min
- Faulkner House Books, 5 min
Culture & entertainment
- Old Opera House Annex, 2 min
- 504 FRESH, 2 min
Measured from the center at 29.9585, -90.0673, the point near New Orleans's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.
Street layout
Within 800 m of the center there are about 146 street intersections per km², and blocks average 73 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced.
How far walkability reaches
New Orleans's score of 75 is the average across the 5 km around its center, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 96 within 1 km of the center, 83 from 1 to 3 km out and 69 from 3 to 5 km out. 65% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot. Walkability falls off steeply away from the center, so check a specific address on the map.
- 90+
- 70–89
- 50–69
- 25–49
- 0–24
Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central New Orleans. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the center. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Center | 100 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 96 | 100% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 83 | 78% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 69 | 54% |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Houston, United States | 511 km | 79 |
| Memphis, Tennessee, United States | 578 km | 57 |
| Atlanta, United States | 684 km | 70 |
| Dallas, United States | 713 km | 75 |
| Austin, Texas, United States | 739 km | 71 |
Questions about walking in New Orleans
Is New Orleans a walkable city?
Around its center, yes. New Orleans has a walkability score of 75 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. Its center scores 100. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 13th of 58 cities in the United States and joint 201st of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.
What is the most walkable city in the United States?
New York City is the most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with a score of 93. New Orleans ranks joint 13th with 75.
How does New Orleans compare with nearby cities?
New Orleans sits between its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 75, against Houston (79, 511 km away), Memphis, Tennessee (57, 578 km away) and Atlanta (70, 684 km away).
Which part of New Orleans is most walkable?
New Orleans's most walkable area is its center, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 100. Walkability averages 96 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the south-west (averaging 90) and falls most to the north-east (52).
Why is New Orleans's score different from its Walk Score?
Walk Score's city scores average every neighborhood within the city limits, weighted by where people live, so they count outer suburbs that the 5 km around New Orleans's center leaves out, and they are usually lower. Address by address the two agree closely: across 46 addresses in the United States and Canada, How Walkable's scores were 5.9 points from Walk Score's on average, as the accuracy study at howwalkable.com/accuracy shows.
How is New Orleans's walkability score calculated?
For New Orleans it is the average of 82 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 53 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.
Ask about walking anywhere in ChatGPT with the How Walkable app, for example "How walkable is New Orleans?"