US cities ranked by their mobile performance

The race to 5G is on, with mobile carriers beginning to lay the foundation by rolling out updated network infrastructure in major U.S. cities. But a new report from RootMetrics reveals the potential mobile performance drawbacks in bigger metro areas.

While you’d expect the fastest, most reliable smartphone experience in major metros, RootMetrics U.S. Metro Rankings shows this, unfortunately, isn’t the case. In fact, none of the top 10 most populated cities cracked RootMetrics’ top 10 for best overall mobile performance; however, there were some notable network improvements in NYC (jumped to #54 from #91), Philly (#17 from #64), and Boston (#53 from #108). Meanwhile, Miami (#70) and Los Angeles (#67) fell to the bottom half of the list.

The biggest 10 U.S. cities ranked on their mobile performance as follows:

• New York City - Current rank: 54 (Previous rank: 91)
   
• Los Angeles - Current rank: 67 (Previous rank: 48)
   
• Chicago - Current rank: 12 (Previous rank: 4)
   
• Miami - Current rank: 70 (Previous rank: 41)
   
• Philadelphia - Current rank: 17 (Previous rank: 64)
   
• Dallas - Current rank: 23 (Previous rank: 55)
   
• Houston - Current rank: 44 (Previous rank: 25)
   
• Washington D.C. - Current rank: 18 (Previous rank: 43)
   
• Atlanta - Current rank: 24 (Previous rank: 20)
   
• Boston - Current rank: 53 (Previous rank: 108)

So, which cities provide the strongest mobile experience? RootMetrics’ analysis finds Knoxville, TN tops the list - across overall, network reliability, and call categories.

Rounding out the top 5 cities for overall performance:

• 1) Knoxville, TN (Population rank: 73)
   
• 2) St. Louis, MO (Population rank: 20)
   
• 3) Minneapolis, MN (Population rank: 16)
   
• 4) Allentown, PA (Population rank: 60)
   
• 5) Fort Wayne, IN (Population rank: 118)