Handover criteria for wireless networks are provided. A base station (BS) transmits, to a user equipment (UE), a configuration for at least one measurement event to be used for a handover of the UE from a source cell to one of a set of neighbor cells, wherein the configuration includes at least a configured rank criterion for triggering a measurement report in response to the measurement event. The BS receives, from the UE, the measurement report based on the configuration, the measurement report at least including a measured rank value for one or more reported cells in the set. The BS selects a target cell from the reported cells for the handover based at least on the received measured rank values, and transmits a handover command to the UE for the handover to the selected target.