50 Dirtiest and Cleanest Cities in the USA

DavidGP · Jun 18, 2005

What’s the cleanest big city in the U.S.? How about the dirtiest? In our July issue, we decided to find out, by analyzing data to score each of the 50 largest cities on air quality, water quality, industrial pollution (toxics), Superfund sites, and sanitation. Rather than just the cities themselves, we looked at metropolitan areas, which include surrounding counties and suburbs. (This can have a real effect on a place’s score; Chicago, for example, has excellent water but its score is brought down by problems in the outlying areas). Because we only looked at the 50 largest places, there may be smaller cities that are much cleaner or dirtier than these—and because the scores represent relative rankings, that a city comes in first or last in a given category does not necessarily mean it’s perfectly pristine or dangerously filthy.

Here, then, is our list of the 50 largest metro areas in America and how they compare. Higher total numbers mean a cleaner city.
Click to expand...

Find out your cities toxic waste level

The UK is probably no better!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4228613.stm

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50 Dirtiest and Cleanest Cities in the USA

DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

Log in or Sign up

50 Dirtiest and Cleanest Cities in the USA

DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

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