Washington, D.C. was ranked No. 1 in the newly released ParkScore Index, while Houston fell to No. 69 in the 2026 ranking of the nation’s largest cities. The annual list from the Trust for Public Land measures park systems in 100 American cities by accessibility, equity, acreage, investment and amenities.

Houston’s drop from No. 66 last year did not mean the city’s parks got worse, according to the Trust for Public Land. The group said the lower ranking reflected other cities moving up in the standings. Even so, the numbers show a system that still trails national benchmarks in several areas.

About 12.2 percent of land within Houston city limits is set aside for parks, above the national average of 9.3 percent. But only 65 percent of Houston residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, compared with a national average of 76 percent. The city also spends about $137 per resident to maintain its parks, below the national average of $154.

Across Texas, the strongest park systems were in Plano and Frisco, which took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots among Texas cities. Molly Morgan said cities across the state are opening new parks, partnering with school districts and closing gaps that have existed for decades. She said 9 million Texans still do not have a park within a 10-minute walk of home.

The ParkScore Index, released each year by the Trust for Public Land, is built to compare not just how much green space a city has, but who can reach it and how well it is maintained. That makes Houston’s middling finish more telling than the raw acreage number suggests: the city has land devoted to parks, but too many residents still live outside easy walking distance of one.

That gap is the real story behind the rankings. Texas is making progress, Morgan said, but the state’s park network still leaves millions of people without nearby access, and Houston remains part of that shortfall even as some of its peers move higher.