Atlanta keeps climbing in national, annual ranking of city parks

When it comes to urban park systems around the United States, Atlanta’s climb this decade from “meh” to “not too shabby” has been impressive, but work remains to be done. 

Trust for Public Land officials announced this week The City in a Forest has placed 21st on its annual ParkScore index for 2025. (Just four years ago, Atlanta ranked 49th of 100 major cities studied, according to TPL metrics.)

Atlanta’s 2025 placement is the city’s highest ever and four spots ahead of last year, continuing a recent pattern of improvement. The ParkScore index found that 82 percent of Atlantans now live within a short walk of a park, following greenspace additions in places such as Old Fourth Ward. 

But what really moved the meter was the city’s recent district-wide decision to open schoolyards for public use when schools aren’t in session, according to TPL. 

Quick park access in Atlanta climbed from 79 percent of residents last year and beats the national ParkScore average of 76 percent. 

New greenspace amenities—Ashview Heights and the PATH Foundation’s Woodall Rail Trail come to mind as recent examples—also factored into ATL’s rise on the parks chart. 

In terms of park investment, Atlanta also continues to shine, now logging $272 per person on parks. That’s more than double the national ParkScore average of $133, per TPL. (Forthcoming public greenspaces in places such as Buckhead and Chosewood Park, among others, should soon help the ranking.) 

“Atlanta’s ParkScore ranking has risen sharply over the past five years,” notes a summary of the analysis. “The city first cracked the top 25 last year and now seems poised for a run at the top 20.” 

Atlanta rocketed up 22 spots on the 2022 ParkScore Index—the biggest mover of that year—following a monumental year in 2021 for new urban greenspaces. Those included the sprawling Westside Park (now Shirley Clarke Franklin Park), Cook Park in Vine City, and a park-topped parking garage in Grant Park, among others.

Still, there’s room for improvement. Atlanta’s ranking puts it between Boise and Buffalo, respectively, and TPL found that just 8 percent of the city’s land use is for parks and recreation, when the national median is 15 percent. 

The City of Atlanta currently counts 518 parks. Among them is a relative abundance of “destination” parks, but the city is lacking in terms of median park size, TPL found. 

TPL’s methodology ranks the 100 most populous U.S. cities by comparing five park categories: acreage, equity, access, investment, and amenities. The ParkScore system is widely considered the gold standard for park evaluation, per TPL officials.  

Coming in atop the 2025 list for the fifth consecutive year is Washington, DC, where a whopping 21 percent of land is reserved for parks. 

Irvine, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, and St. Paul rounded out the top five, respectively. 

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