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The Dirtiest City in America

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: June 25, 2024 6:50 am

24/7 Insights

• A recent analysis reveals San Bernardino as America’s dirtiest city.
• Metrics included air and water quality, fuel consumption, and resident dissatisfaction.

Pollution is generally used to define dirty cities. That includes air pollution and dangerous water, as was found in the Flint, Mich., water system in April 2014. One new study uses a broader definition, including pollution, infrastructure, living conditions, and resident dissatisfaction.

Lawncare company LawnStarter looked at America’s 300 largest cities. Specific measurement metrics included air quality, the number of water quality violations, greenhouse gas emissions, average auto fuel consumption, and population density. Scores could be as high as 100 and as low as zero.

San Bernardino, Calif., topped the worst part of the list with a score of 54.90. At the far end of the spectrum, the least polluted city was Lynchburg, W.V., with a score of 18.75. San Bernardino did so poorly primarily because of poor scores for resident dissatisfaction and pollution.

San Bernardino is inland from Los Angeles. Its population is 223,728. Two-thirds of the city’s population is Hispanic. Most of the rest is white. The population’s median household income is $61,323, which is below the national average. At 20.2%, the poverty rate is well above the national numbers.

Several of America’s old industrial cities did poorly. For example, Detroit (score of 52.49) was the second worst on the list. Reading, Pa., (51.85) ranked third worst, and Newark, N.J., (50.66) ranked fourth worst. All were once prosperous manufacturing cities. They all lost many of their most important companies and a portion of their populations.

Cities Americans Are Abandoning in Droves

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