Seattle is the “smartest” U.S. city, according to a recent analysis of the nation’s 48 largest cities by real estate technology firm ProptechOS.
What does that mean? ProptechOS describes a smart city as more data-driven, more sustainable, better engaged with the community and easier to travel around than the average city. To come up with its ranking of the smartest cities in the U.S., the company analyzed 16 metrics related to connectivity and infrastructure, sustainability and the tech job market. Each metric is equally weighted, whether it is the number of free WiFi hotspots, number of EV charging stations or number of tech jobs advertised per capita.
“The United Nations views smart infrastructure as crucial for urban growth,” Erik Wallin, founder and chief ecosystem officer at ProptechOS, said in an emailed statement.
Seattle snagged the top spot from Austin, Texas, which ranked as the smartest U.S. city in ProptechOS’ 2023 list.
The smartest US cities
The analysis also named the top cities for each of the three categories: connectivity and infrastructure, sustainability and tech job market.
The city with the best smart city infrastructure: Austin
The analysis cites the city’s high average broadband download speed and the fact that it is home to 35 artificial intelligence companies per 100,000 people.
The greenest city: Kansas City, Missouri
The sustainability category factors in metrics related to air pollution, tree coverage, green building certification and EV charging infrastructure. It has among the most EV charging points per capita of any U.S. city, the analysis says.
The city with the hottest tech job market: Washington, D.C.
The analysis, conducted in April, found that more than 50,000 tech jobs are advertised at any one time. The average software engineering salary in D.C. is over twice the national average, the analysis says.
