Newark rose but Jersey City fell in an annual ranking of park acreage, amenities and accessibility among the 100 most populous U.S. cities, according to the non-profit Trust for Public Land.

Newark jumped from 81st on the list in 2017 to 73rd this year, while Jersey City fell 13 places, from 40th last year to 53rd, according to the Trust for Public Land, which compiles the rankings every year, taking into account municipal, county, state and national parkland within the cities' borders.

Newark, with an estimated 2016 population of 281,764, and Jersey City, est. pop. 264,152, are the only New Jersey cities among the nation's 100 biggest, at 67th and 77th, respectively.

Newark ranked 73rd out of the nation's 100 most populous cities for parks in an annual survey by the Trust for Publc Land. This map shows the levels of need for park space around the city.

"Newark's ranking was helped by high marks for park access, with 90 percent of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park," stated an announcement by the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land, a 46-year-old organization that promotes open space through research, advocacy and grants. "Newark was also boosted by above-average marks for splash pads and water features, 3.2 per 100,000 residents compared to the national average of 0.9."

Newark's director of recreation, cultural affairs, and senior services, Patrick Council, said the city's efforts to improve the quality of its parks were paying off, funded in part by a special open space tax approved by Newark voters that generates $1.5 million a year.

"The City of Newark's 84 parks - whether it's the Bo Porter Field, Nat Turner Park or Mildred Helms Park - allow residents a safe and secure space to enjoy their families and friends and provide a serene environment for physical activities and mental relaxation," Council said in a statement.

The ParkScore rankings are based on four criteria:

Park access:

Park acreage:

Park investment:

Park amenities:

Perennial park powerhouses Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, followed by Wahington D.C., were the top three on the list. New York City was 9th, while Charlotte, Virginia was the nation's most park-starved big city.

Jersey City scored slightly better than Newark in terms of park access, with 91 percent of its residents within a 10-minute walk. But as in the past, the seat of Hudson County was again hurt by its miniscule .6-acre median park size.

"Jersey City has the lowest median park size of all ParkScore cities," the trust stated.

However, the .6-acre median is not an average, or mean park size, but rather indicates only that the city has the same number of parks smaller than .6 acres as the number larger than that. Using the median size therefore all but ignores the significance of Liberty State Park, a 1,212-acre expanse on the city's Upper New York Bay waterfront opposite the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Still, Jersey City can boast that an airy 18 percent of its total land area -- double the ParkScore average of 9.3 percent -- is dedicated to parkland, according to the land trust. That figure does take Liberty State Park's vast acreage into account.

Jersey City ranked 53rd for parks out of the 100 most populous U.S. cities in this year's ParkScore survey by the Trust for Public Land.

The trust also said that Jersey City's slippage in the rankings did not mean a decline in the quality or accessibility of its parks, but rather was a function of the relative improvement of parks in other American cities.

Park restrooms were a new ParkScore category this year, with Newark logging 2.2 per 10,000 residents, and Jersey City 1.8, both below the ParkScore average of 2.4.

Like Jersey City's, Newark's ranking was also hurt by its small median park size of 0.7 acres, well below the 5 acre median for all 100 U.S. cities. And despite the presence of Essex County's sprawling Weequahic and Branch Brook Parks, just 6 percent of Newark's total area is parkland, below the ParkScore average of 9.3 percent.

Hannah Peterson, a spokeswoman for Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, said the city's 2018 capital budget includes $6.9 million for park renovation and creation, a priority for his administration. Peterson said parks are especially important given the city's size and density, which at 16,736 residents per square mile, makes it the 10th most crowded community in the state.

Of the parks, Peterson said, "We truly believe in their power to bring together all types of residents and build strong communities."

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.