City Park Facts

Photo: Tom Evers

The total area covered by urban parkland in the United States exceeds one million acres, with parks ranging in size from the jewel-like 1.7-acre Post Office Square in Boston to the gargantuan 490,125-acre Chugach State Park in Anchorage. And their usage dwarfs that of the national parks—the most popular major parks, such as Lincoln Park in Chicago receive upwards of 20 million users each year, and New York's Central Park gets about 25 million visits annually - more than five times as many to the Grand Canyon.

Some cities have plenty of parkland that's well distributed around town; others have enough land but an inequitable distribution; others are short of even a basic amount of park space for their citizens.

Through an annual survey, the Center for City Park Excellence maintains the nation's most complete database of park facts for the largest 77 U.S. cities. With the help of CCPE data, you can see how your city compares to others. Cities are divided into different population density classes in some of the below reports. A report showing the densities and explaining the classifications is available here.

"As Economy Struggles, Cities Offer Acres of Green Space," (press release, 8/17/2009)
Download a pdf of the 2009 City Park Facts report.

Acreage and Size

The 150 Largest City Parks

Acres of Parkland as Percentage of City Area

Acres of Parkland per 1,000 Residents by City

Acres of Parkland by City and Agency

Acres of Parkland by Natural and Designed Acres

New Acres Acquired, by Agency

Facilities

Ball Diamonds per 10,000 Residents by City

Community Garden Plots per 10,000 Residents

Dog Parks per 100,000 Residents by City