This Is the Filthiest City in America

California's San Bernardino claims dubious honor, while Virginia's Lynchburg is the cleanest, according to LawnStarter
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 25, 2024 10:25 AM CDT
This Is the Filthiest City in America
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Ake Dynamic)

If cleanliness is next to godliness, a bunch of US cities need to find religion. LawnStarter took a look at more than 300 major US metropolitan areas to figure out which ones are sparkling clean and which ones need some tidying up, factoring in nearly two dozen metrics in four main categories: pollution (air and water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and the like); living conditions, including the share of overcrowded residences; infrastructure (think junkyards, refuse and recycling collectors, and access to public restrooms, among others); and resident dissatisfaction with all things pollution and waste. California's San Bernardino claims the dubious honor of America's dirtiest city, while Lynchburg, Virginia, is the cleanest. Here, the top and bottom 10:

Dirtiest Cities

  1. San Bernardino, California (No. 1 in "Resident Dissatisfaction" category)
  2. Detroit
  3. Reading, Pennsylvania
  4. Newark, New Jersey
  5. Ontario, California
  6. Phoenix (No. 1 in "Infrastructure" category)
  7. Trenton, New Jersey
  8. Las Vegas
  9. Houston
  10. Baytown, Texas (No. 1 in "Pollution" category)

Cleanest Cities

  1. Fayetteville, Arkansas
  2. Des Moines, Iowa
  3. Sioux City, Iowa
  4. Roanoke, Virginia
  5. Bellevue, Washington
  6. Wilmington, North Carolina
  7. Pleasanton, California
  8. Redwood City, California
  9. Duluth, Minnesota
  10. Lynchburg, Virginia
See how other cities fared here. (Check out America's most sustainable cities.)

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