The Best and Worst Cities for Wireless Network Performance

Wireless network performance is a mixed bag in the nation’s biggest cities.

On one hand, Atlanta and Chicago are the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked metropolitan areas in the country, respectively, for overall mobile network performance, according to a new analysis by RootMetrics, a wireless research firm based in Bellevue, Washington.

On the other hand, America’s two biggest cities, New York and Los Angeles, are ranked No. 74 and No. 89, respectively, for overall network performance.

RootMetrics’ report “Ranking the cities: Which metro area is the nation’s best for mobile network performance?” was released today. It details the firm’s analysis of the 125 most-populous metropolitan areas:

Beyond bragging rights, comparing mobile network performance between cities shows how well equipped an area is to support all of the different ways you use your phone each day, whether it’s making a call, sending a text, checking email or even updating a social media status.

Cities were ranked across six categories:

• Overall performance
• Network speed
• Network reliability
• Data performance
• Call performance
• Text performance

Based on RootMetrics’ scores for overall network performance during the first half of this year, with 125 being the highest possible score, the best-ranked cities are:

• Atlanta: 98.4
• Chicago: 98.3
• Knoxville, Tennessee: 98.3
• Nashville, Tennessee: 98.3
• Jacksonville, Florida: 98.2

The worst-ranked cities are:

• El Paso, Texas: 93.9
• Colorado Springs, Colorado: 93.6
• Omaha, Nebraska: 93.4
• Reno, Nevada: 93
• Hudson Valley, New York: 92.4

To view the breakdown of scores for all 125 cities, click the link above and scroll to the bottom of the page.

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Do you agree with these rankings? How would you score network performance in your town or city? Let us know below or on Facebook.