What are the most forested cities in America? If you are having a hard time finding greener cities online because most of the rankings you have bumped into in a plethora of articles on other websites either offered imprecise or incomprehensive information, you need not look further than our list of 50 most forested cities in the US providing authentic and thoroughly researched data.
Today, when the world is beset with a wide range of environmental challenges, the importance of urban forests has drawn increased global attention in recognition of the fact that forests make a vital component of urban settings for a healthy society.
Urban forests not only contribute to human well-being, wildlife protection, soil stability, pollution absorption and carbon sequestration, but they also help offset the impact of climate change listed as one of the global challenges by the United Nations.
Of late multiple approaches have been employed in a bid to measure canopy covers of different cities, but the results gained remain inconclusive due to the limited scope of the projects or the limitations of the technology used.
One such exercise was carried out at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by the Senseable City Lab using ‘Treepedia’, an algorithm toolkit that works in combination with Google’s Street View technology to map the presence of trees in a city. This platform is, however, limited to a select 30 cities worldwide, of which Tampa city of Florida is the most tree-rich with 36 percent of its landscape dotted green. The aim of the project, as MIT researchers put it, is to raise awareness among peoples about the state of the green in their respective cities.
Nevertheless, certain US cities have been investing in urban greening programs to mitigate the rising levels of environmental pollution (see 11 least polluted countries in the world) with the help of local populations and environmental activists. New York City’s MillionTreesNYC drive may serve as an example of one such endeavor. This project concluded in 2015 successfully served its aim of thickening the city’s canopy cover.
In relation to the point made at the beginning, we may add that many rankings online may describe New York, for instance, to be the most forested city in the US, but the fact remains only when the data of this city’s five constituent counties is taken into account will they be able to come up with the near-exact figure of the forest coverage area. Not only do the rankings in question fall short of backing their numbers, but they also fail to explain to the readers the methodology they went by in ranking so few cities they have so little data available of.
For compiling this list of 50 most forested cities in the US for our readers, we scoured the websites of US Census Bureau, US Forest Service and a couple of other trustworthy sources. Our estimates revolve around the forest canopy covers of the highly populous cities in the US: it is not centered on medium-sized or small cities. Unlike other websites, we based our rankings for the forest cover of each city on the county-level data acquired using US Forest Service’s Interactive Forest Resources 2017 to dispel concerns, if any, about its authenticity. To make the information gathered more thorough and comprehensive, we incorporated information about the total land area of each city on our list to paint a complete picture for our readers.
You may also find our list articles on 11 Countries with the Most Forests in the World and 10 Countries with the Highest Deforestation Rates in the World interesting and informative.
So, without further ado, here goes our list of 50 most forested cities in the US, starting with No. 50.
50. Washington, District of Columbia: Washington D.C. is literally a tree-less city with a zero percent forest cover on a 61.05 sq miles landscape.
49. San Francisco, California: Another tree-deficient city, San Francisco, spanning 46.87 sq miles, has a zero percent forest cover.
48. Boston, Massachusetts: With a zero percent forest cover on a landscape of 48.28 sq miles, the city of Boston in Suffolk County is almost without trees.
47. Miami, Florida: Another tree-deficient city, Miami in Miami-Dade County has a zero percent forest cover over a total land area of 35.87 sq miles.
46. Phoenix, Arizona: Comprising 516.70 sq miles of land area, the city of Phoenix in Maricopa County is a tree-poor city with just one percent forest cover.
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45. Mesa, Arizona: Mesa in Maricopa County is a tree-poor city with forest cover claiming just one percent of its landscape of 136.45 sq miles.
44. El Paso, Texas: In this Texan city, forests account for 2 percent of a total land area of 255.24 sq miles.
43. Sacramento, California: Another tree-poor city, Sacramento has a forest cover of 2 percent over a total land area of 97.92 sq miles.
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42. Las Vegas, Nevada: The city of Las Vegas in Clark County is tree-poor with forests covering just 3 percent of its landscape of 135.82 sq miles.
41. Tucson, Arizona: Spanning 226.71 sq miles, Tucson in Pima County is a tree-poor city with just 3 percent of its land area covered by forests.
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40. Baltimore, Maryland: Another tree-poor city, Baltimore has given over 4 percent of its total land area of 80.94 sq miles to forests.
39. Denver, Colorado: Denver is a tree-poor city with just 4 percent of a total land area of 153 sq miles given over to forests.
38. San Diego, California: San Diego has 6 percent of a total land area of 325.19 sq miles covered by forests.
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37. Omaha, Nebraska: Spanning 127.09 sq miles, the city of Omaha in Douglas County averages a forest cover of 6 percent.
36. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Only 7 percent of Milwaukee, spanning 96.12 sq miles, is forested.
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35. Indianapolis, Indiana: This city in Marion County has 7 percent of forests over a land area of 361.43 sq miles.
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34. Los Angeles, California: Los Angeles has 8 percent of its total land area of 468.67 sq miles forested.
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33. New Orleans, Louisiana: The city of New Orleans in Orleans Parish County has forests on 5 percent of its landscape of 169.42 sq miles.
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32. Detroit, Michigan: Spanning 138.75 sq miles, the city of Detroit, falling in the Wayne County, has an average forest cover of 8 percent.
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31. Long Beach, California: Forests comprise 8 percent of the landscape in the city of Long Beach in Los Angeles County, spanning 50.29 sq miles.
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30. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Nine percent of Philadelphia’s total land area of 134.10 sq miles is forested.
29. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Having a land area of 53.97 sq miles, the city of Minneapolis in Hennepin County has a tree canopy cover of 9 percent.
28. Columbus, Ohio: Eleven percent of a total land area of 217.17 sq miles of Columbus, falling in the constituent counties of Franklin, Fairfield and Delaware, is covered by forests.
27. Chicago, Illinois: The city of Chicago in Cook County has given over 12 percent of its total land area of 227.63 sq miles to forest cover.
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26. New York City, New York: The city of New York – drawn up out of the five constituent counties of Kings, Queens, New York, Bronx and Richmond – has a forest cover of no more than 13.8 percent on a landscape of 302.64 square miles.
25. Dallas, Texas: The city of Dallas within the five constituent counties of Dallas, Colli, Denton, Kaufman and Rockwall has a total land area of 340.52 sq miles, of which 15 percent is forested.
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24. Fort Worth, Texas: Formed out of the counties of Tarrant, Denton, Parker and Wise, the city of Fort Worth has given over 16 percent of its total landscape of 339.82 sq miles to forests.
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23. Arlington, Texas: The Texan city of Arlington in Tarrant County has a 16 percent tree canopy cover over a landscape of 95.88 sq miles.
22. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Forest cover in Colorado Springs in El Paso County stands around 16 percent over a total land area of 194.54 sq miles.
21. Kansas City, Missouri: Partially falling in the four constituent counties of Jackson, Clay, Platte and Cass, the city of Kansas, spanning 314.95 sq miles, has a forest cover of nearly 17 percent.
20. Virginia Beach, Virginia: This city has an 18 percent forested area out of a total of 249.02 sq miles.
19. Houston, Texas: Partially lying in the three counties of Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery, the city of Houston, spanning 599.59 sq miles, is 19 percent covered by forests.
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18. Tampa, Florida: Forests cover 21 percent of a total of 113.41 sq miles landscape of the city of Tampa in Hillsborough County.
17. Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky: Forests cover 20 percent area of this metropolitan spanning 325.25 sq miles.
16. Albuquerque, New Mexico: The city of Albuquerque in Bernalillo County has a forest cover of 21 percent over a total land area of 187.73 sq miles.
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15. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Drawn up out of its constituent counties of Tulsa, Osage, Rogers and Wagoner, the city of Tulsa has a forest cover of 22 percent over a landscape of 196.75 sq miles.
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14. Oakland, California: Forested area in the city of Oakland in Alameda County stands around 24 percent on a landscape of 55.79 sq miles.
13. San Antonio, Texas: Having a total land area of 460.93 sq miles, the city of San Antonio in the Bexar County averages a forest cover of 25 percent.
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12. Charlotte, North Carolina: The city of Charlotte in Mecklenburg County has forests over 26 percent of its total land area of 297.68 sq miles.
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11. Raleigh, North Carolina: Forests account for 29 percent of Raleigh’s total landscape of 142.90 sq miles. This city falls in the counties of Wake and Durham.
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10. Memphis, Tennessee: The city of Memphis in Shelby County has a forest cover of 31 percent over a total land area of 315.06 sq miles.
9. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Carved out of its constituent counties of Oklahoma, Cleveland, Canadian and Pottawatomie, the city of Oklahoma has 31 percent of a total land area of 606.41 sq miles given over to forests.
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8. Atlanta, Georgia: Drawn up out of the counties of Fulton and DeKalb, Atlanta has a tree canopy cover of 32 percent on a landscape of 133.15 sq miles.
7. Austin, Texas: The city of Texas, formed out of its three constituent counties of Travis, Williamson and Hays, has given 33 percent of a total land area of 297.90 sq miles over to forests.
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6. Fresno, California: Forest coverage in the city of Fresno spanning 111.96 sq miles is around 33 percent.
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5. Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government, Tennessee: Falling in Davidson County, this city is tree-rich with 38 percent area given over to forests out of a total of 475.13 sq miles.
4. San Jose, California: Lying in Santa Clara County, San Jose is a tree-rich city, with a forest canopy cover of 41 percent over a total land area of 176.53 sq miles.
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3. Portland, Oregon: Falling in the counties of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas, the city of Portland, with 44 percent of a total 133.43 sq miles landscape covered by forests, is the third most forested city in the US.
2. Jacksonville, Florida: Second on our list is this Florida city in Duval County with a forest cover of 46 percent on a total land area of 747 sq miles.
1. Seattle, Washington: Seattle in King County, with a thick forest cover of 66 percent on a landscape of 83.94 sq miles, is by far the most forested city in the US.
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