A list of 2023’s dirtiest cities in America was released by LawnStarter, and six Texas cities are among the top 50, including two ranked in the top 10.
Houston lands at the top, Dallas takes the No. 32 spot on the dishonorable list, and Fort Worth checks in at No. 40.
LawnStarter looked at the 200 biggest U.S. cities and gathered publicly available data on four categories: Pollution, Living Conditions, Infrastructure, and Consumer Satisfaction.
It calculated weighted scores for each city in each category and averaged the scores across all categories for each city. Forty-eight cities did not have sufficient data for a fair comparison, resulting in a final list of 152 cities.
The city that earned the highest average score was ranked “Dirtiest” (No. 1), while the city with the lowest was ranked “Cleanest” (No. 152).
Houston took the top spot by being the third most “polluted.”
Houston also has the biggest cockroach problem, according to the Census Bureau. Still, Houston residents’ satisfaction with the city’s cleanliness was higher than 33 other cities, including Fort Worth, which is No. 32 in the consumer satisfaction rank.
Here are the top 10 dirtiest cities in the U.S., according to LawnStarter:
- Houston, TX
- Newark, NJ
- San Bernardino, CA
- Detroit, MI
- Jersey City, NJ
- Bakersfield, CA
- San Antonio, TX
- Fresno, CA
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Yonkers, NY
The other Texas cities ranked in the top 50 are El Paso (No. 29), Dallas (No. 32), Amarillo (No. 35), and Fort Worth (No. 40).
Dallas grabbed the No. 32 spot by ranking No. 18 in pollution, No. 59 in living conditions, No. 48 in infrastructure, and No. 54 in consumer satisfaction.
Recently, Dallas announced it was considering giving some residents refunds after their trash was not picked up by the city for a month, causing some trash cans to overflow in the street, as reported by The Dallas Express.
A recent video also showed an apparent drug den within Dallas city limits. The Dallas Express went out to inspect this alleged open-air drug den and found that the area was filled with trash and other discarded items.
Dallas’ Director of Sanitation Jay Council provided The Dallas Express with the following statement on his reaction to LawnStarter’s list:
“Dallas is one of the 10 most populous cities in the United States,” said Council. “Addressing the ranking made by a business blog redirects focus away from the work Dallas City leaders and departments make (sic) to address the environmental concerns that all major metropolitan cities face.
“The City of Dallas is dedicated to providing a clean and healthy environment for its residents as laid out in Dallas’ Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan (CECAP),” Council added. “The Department of Sanitation Services continues its mission to operate a clean, green, and efficient integrated solid waste management system for the residents of Dallas while supporting the City’s vision to achieve a sustainable future.”
The Dallas Express also reached out to the offices of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for their reaction to the rankings. Neither has responded as of this time.