Portland Cyclists Take First Place: Census Shows the City No. 1 for Bike Commuting

Yes, bike commuters: It's getting crowded out there.

According to the US Census Bureau's 2010 American Community Survey, Portland continues to reign as the city with the highest number of bicycle commuters in the nation. 

Out of the 70 largest US cities, Portland tops the list with 6 percent commuters relative to the city's population (585,429) using a bicycle as the primary means of getting to work. That's up from 5.8 percent last year.

A report compiled by the League of American Bicyclists shows Portland has held a commanding lead in biking commuting among major cities for the last few years after seeing a big increase after 2007. Seattle (3.6%) and San Francisco (3.5%) trail behind in second and third place; both those cities saw big increases in the number of people reporting that the bike to work over last year.

The numbers show that few cities have seen a spike in bike commuting like Portland's—nearly a threefold increase since 2000.

The average percentage of bike commuters for 70 major cities in the survey? About 1 percent.