| City living comes with more entertainment, more job opportunities, and also more pollution, trash, and pests. Which U.S. cities are the filthiest? To find out, LawnStarter ranked 2024’s Dirtiest Cities in America. This year, we expanded the scope of our study to encompass over 300 of the biggest U.S. cities based on 4 categories. More specifically, we considered air pollution, water quality, waste management, and resident dissatisfaction levels, among 21 total metrics. See the 10 dirtiest (and 10 cleanest) cities below, followed by key takeaways. (Don’t see your city below? Check out the full ranking.) |
| Dirtiest Cities Rank City 1- San Bernardino, CA 2- Detroit, MI 3- Reading, PA 4- Newark, NJ 5- Ontario, CA 6 – Phoenix, AZ 7- Trenton, NJ 8- Las Vegas, NV 9- Houston, TX 10- Baytown, TX Cleanest Cities Rank City 1-Lynchburg, VA 2-Duluth, MN 3- Redwood, CA 4- Pleasanton, CA 5- Wilmington, NC 6-Bellevue, WA 7- Roanoke, VA 8- Sioux City, IA 9- Des Moines, IA 10- Fayetteville, AR |
| Key Insights: America’s Dirtiest Cities aren’t necessarily full of litterbugs — cities like San Bernardino, California (No. 1), and Detroit, (No. 2), primarily deal with polluted air, high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, and records of drinking water violations. 10 California cities in the Inland Empire, like San Bernardino, tie with the worst median air quality. The shipping industry is exploding in this region, with a freight corridor boasting over 4,000 warehouses and nearly 600,000 diesel-fueled trucks driving through the Inland Empire on a daily basis. Cities in Iowa and Virginia — like Des Moines (No. 295) and Roanoke (No. 297) — score among the least dirty cities in our ranking, near Lynchburg, Virginia, in last place. These cities enjoy less noxious air and near-roadway pollution, low excess fuel consumption, and higher resident satisfaction. |
2024’s Dirtiest Cities in America
The dirtiest and cleanest cities ranked for this year’s travel.
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