U.S. Cities AI Adoption Index

Every month, Starbridge processes millions of public documents—board meeting minutes, strategic plans, RFPs, and contracts—to help businesses identify their best-fit public sector customers.

Executive summary

Cities aren’t just experimenting with AI. They’re integrating it into daily governance, operations, and infrastructure.

Starbridge analyzed thousands of public signals: City council minutes, procurement records, strategic plans, and open data portals. The goal? Uncover where AI adoption is actually happening across U.S. municipalities.

The result: a nation-wide index ranking cities by how actively they’re investing in, planning for, and governing AI.

Top trends

• 20.1% of cities have discussed AI-related topics during public board meetings in the past two years
• 50.9% have purchased AI-related tools. Many cities are still in early deployment phases.
• 1.1 tools per city is the average among those with at least one AI-related purchase. Municipal AI ecosystems are still emerging but growing fast.

What you'll learn

• Which cities are leading AI adoption—and what differentiates them.
• Why sentiment around AI is shifting from cautious to committed.
• Where vendors can expect early interest vs. active purchasing.

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