Best cities for sports in North Carolina

BookrGo Best Sport Cities ranking: we rank the cities of North Carolina by their 0-10 sports score, which combines density of centers per resident, variety of sports, listing quality and real activity. To keep the comparison fair, we measure every city's offering with the same sources of national coverage. An honest way to see where it's easiest (and hardest) to find somewhere to play.

350 scorable cities in North Carolina.

#	City	Score /10	Centers
1	Denver	8.9	64
2	Apex	8.4	215
3	Cornelius	8.3	160
4	Indian Trail	8.3	111
5	Morganton	8.3	70
6	Franklin	8.3	44
7	Boone	8.2	104
8	Blowing Rock	8.2	18
9	Matthews	8.1	179
10	Kinston	8.1	60
11	Pittsboro	8.1	40
12	Bermuda Run	8.1	14
13	Wake Forest	8.0	175
14	Belmont	8.0	65
15	Swansboro	8.0	25
16	Sanford	7.9	104
17	Asheboro	7.9	76
18	Morehead City	7.9	75
19	Pineville	7.9	51
20	Mount Airy	7.9	45
21	Marion	7.9	34
22	North Wilkesboro	7.9	29
23	Henderson	7.9	28
24	Huntersville	7.8	201
25	Hickory	7.8	196
26	Hendersonville	7.8	101
27	Clemmons	7.8	69
28	Wilmington	7.7	592
29	Winston-Salem	7.7	508
30	Chapel Hill	7.7	263
31	Goldsboro	7.7	121
32	Nags Head	7.7	47
33	Fuquay-Varina	7.6	98
34	Brevard	7.6	45
35	Shallotte	7.6	24
36	Surf City	7.6	18
37	Asheville	7.5	419
38	Concord	7.5	335
39	Mooresville	7.5	278
40	Kernersville	7.5	114
41	Hillsborough	7.5	56
42	Cary	7.4	481
43	Morrisville	7.4	144
44	Shelby	7.4	70
45	Kill Devil Hills	7.4	53
46	Greensboro	7.3	733
47	Fayetteville	7.3	373
48	New Bern	7.3	94
49	Southport	7.3	40
50	Siler City	7.3	19
51	Southern Pines	7.2	98
52	Lenoir	7.2	47
53	Youngsville	7.2	25
54	Murphy	7.2	17
55	Charlotte	7.1	2100
56	High Point	7.1	232
57	Greenville	7.1	222
58	Gastonia	7.1	169
59	Salisbury	7.1	103
60	Monroe	7.1	74
61	Elizabeth City	7.1	60
62	Eden	7.1	32
63	Benson	7.1	26
64	Waxhaw	7.0	83
65	Lexington	7.0	74
66	Carolina Beach	7.0	52
67	Wilkesboro	7.0	30
68	Beaufort	7.0	30
69	Mocksville	7.0	27
70	Lake Lure	7.0	26
71	Castle Hayne	7.0	8
72	Jacksonville	6.9	179
73	Burlington	6.9	145
74	Holly Springs	6.9	122
75	Clayton	6.9	96
76	Mebane	6.9	51
77	Washington	6.9	38
78	Aberdeen	6.9	36
79	Reidsville	6.9	34
80	Albemarle	6.9	33
81	Waynesville	6.9	31
82	Roxboro	6.9	25
83	Valdese	6.9	20
84	Mayodan	6.9	10
85	Raleigh	6.8	1482
86	Durham	6.8	602
87	Statesville	6.8	101
88	Rocky Mount	6.8	90
89	Garner	6.8	84
90	Davidson	6.8	50
91	Atlantic Beach	6.8	38
92	Smithfield	6.8	38
93	Black Mountain	6.8	36
94	Jamestown	6.8	28
95	Rockingham	6.8	28
96	Gibsonville	6.8	21
97	Whiteville	6.8	19
98	Canton	6.8	19
99	Kure Beach	6.8	11
100	Knightdale	6.7	53

How do we calculate the score?

Variety (25%) — how many different sports the city covers.
Quality (20%) — richness of each center's information.
Activity (20%) — real user interest over the last 30 days.
Scale (15%) — number of centers in the city.
Density (10%) — centers per resident (dampened).
Courts (10%) — total capacity: number of courts.

Each section is measured as a percentile against the other cities in the United States and combined into the final score, on a 0-10 scale. Variety and density are measured with a uniform instrument (only sources with homogeneous national coverage) so that no city is favored by having a more complete open catalog. We only score cities with population data and a presence in those sources.