- Cities
- United States
- Portland, Oregon
How walkable is Portland, Oregon?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
Portland, Oregon 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
3,044 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Portland, Oregon. The nearest grocery is about 3 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for groceries, restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, parks, books & libraries and culture & entertainment.
Groceries
- Shanghai's Best in Pine Street Market, 5 min
- Pine Street Market, 5 min
Restaurants & bars
- Moondrops Bavarian Roasted Nuts, 1 min
- Horn of Africa, 2 min
Shopping
- Hoodoo Antiques Portland, 3 min
- Spicy Bambu, 3 min
Coffee
- Floyd's Coffee, 3 min
- Cafe UNITED, 3 min
Banks
- Silicon Valley Bank, 7 min
- Historic Us National Bank Block, 8 min
Parks
- Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade, 5 min
- North Park Blocks, 11 min
Schools
- We Village, 16 min
- Willamette University MBA, 16 min
Books & libraries
- World Comics, 6 min
- USACE Portland District, 7 min
Culture & entertainment
- Jeff Morris Fire Museum, 3 min
- Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, 3 min
Measured from the center at 45.5234, -122.6698, the point near Portland, Oregon'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 125 street intersections per km², and blocks average 78 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced.
How far walkability reaches
Portland, Oregon'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 97 within 1 km of the center, 89 from 1 to 3 km out and 64 from 3 to 5 km out. 10 of the 91 points within 5 km fall on water or on land without streets, such as hillsides, forest or farmland, and are left out, so the score describes only the built-up part. 73% 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 Portland, Oregon. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the center. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Center | 98 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 97 | 100% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 89 | 88% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 64 | 60% |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle, United States | 233 km | 80 |
| Vancouver, Canada | 416 km | 83 |
| Sacramento, California, United States | 779 km | 62 |
Questions about walking in Portland, Oregon
Is Portland, Oregon a walkable city?
Around its center, yes. Portland, Oregon 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 98. 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. Portland, Oregon ranks joint 13th with 75.
How does Portland, Oregon compare with nearby cities?
Portland, Oregon sits between its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 75, against Seattle (80, 233 km away), Vancouver (83, 416 km away) and Sacramento, California (62, 779 km away).
Which part of Portland, Oregon is most walkable?
Portland's most walkable area is its center, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 98. Walkability averages 97 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the south-east (averaging 92) and falls most to the south-west (32).
Why is Portland, Oregon'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 Portland, Oregon'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 Portland, Oregon's walkability score calculated?
For Portland, Oregon it is the average of 81 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 59 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.
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