If you live in Philly, you’re probably aware of the typical city-living struggles that come with it. I mean…rodents, trash, smog, among other things. It’s great to live in the thick of things, sure. But, as we know, when a lot of people and businesses reside in one place, it becomes a breeding ground for some…pretty gross stuff. 

Well, a study naming the dirtiest cities in America has been released and we were nervous to see where Philly stacked up. Over 150 bustling cities were examined in this study by Lawn Starter across four categories, including pollution, living conditions, infrastructure, and consumer satisfaction. Well, we have some good news. Great news, even. Philadelphia is not number one on the list! In fact, Philadelphia isn’t even in the top ten!  

Now for the true ranking, we did come in at number 26. Philly received an overall score of 41.99. The dirtiest city received a 56.02, so we are honestly not THAT bad. Good job, Philly, because this is not a list we wanted to find ourselves on top of… 

You may be surprised (or not) that TWO New Jersey cities made it to the tippy top of this list at 5 and 2! This is even more of a compliment to Philadelphians. 

Now for the top five dirtiest cities in America for your viewing pleasure: 

• 5. Jersey City, NJ

  Oh, Jersey. Jersey City falls at number 5 on this list due to a number of reasons. They rank among the worst in infrastructure and pollution.  

• 4. Detroit, MI

  Detroit isn’t doing well in basically all of the categories. Unfortunately, the Motor City just isn’t very clean. They fall short of most marks. 

• 3. San Bernardino, CA

  San Bernardino was given the worst score for air quality out of all 150 cities studied. If you want a breath of fresh air, we don’t recommend San Bernardino as your vacay spot.  

• 2. Newark, NJ

  Newark was actually number ONE on 2022’s list of the dirtiest cities. Hey, maybe they’re cleaning up their act a bit, huh? What really affected their score, you ask? Their infrastructure. 

• 1. Houston, TX

  Houston, we have a problem. The problem? Houston is the dirtiest city in America. They rank among the highest in the pollution category. They are among the top cities with the most greenhouse gas emissions from large facilities per capita. That’s what you get for beating us in the World Series.  

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