Seattle Named ‘Most Wired’ City by Forbes

For the best broadband, head northwest. That’s the word from Forbes, which has chosen Seattle as the nation’s most-wired city. The publication’s annual list of top tech towns picks the 30 best U.S. cities for broadband access. The Emerald City earned high marks for its high-speed Internet access and plentiful Wi-Fi hot spots. The fact that it’s home base for tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft didn’t hurt either.

This year’s top five include Atlanta (last year’s winner) at No. 2, followed by Washington, D.C., Orlando, and Boston, respectively. Forbes also named D.C. the “wired city to watch,” thanks primarily to the arrival of BlackBerry-loving President Obama.

Despite its reputation as a hotbed of tech, California didn’t land a single city in the top 10. San Francisco came in at No. 11, a significant fall from last year’s No. 4 ranking. While the City by the Bay is tops in broadband adoption — a good indication of a Net-savvy citizenry — it has relatively few Wi-Fi hotspots or companies providing high-speed Internet access, Forbes reports. San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento were ranked No. 12, 13, and 19, respectively.

Here’s the complete list:

1) Seattle

2) Atlanta

3) Washington, D.C.

4) Orlando

5) Boston

6) Miami

7) Minneapolis

8) Denver

9) New York

10) Baltimore

11) San Francisco

12) San Diego

13) Los Angeles

14) Portland, OR

15) Raleigh

16) Tampa

17) Phoenix

18) New Orleans

19) Sacramento

20) Charlotte

21) Chicago

22) Nashville

23) Milwaukee

24) Pittsburgh

25) Honolulu

26) Cleveland

27) Philadelphia

28) Cincinnati

29) Columbus

30) Austin