A lot was going on in 1969, from the moon landing to the Manson murders to the Woodstock music festival to the “Chicago 8” trial, so it’s easy to understand why a relatively small fire on the surface of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River on June 22 of that year is often overlooked when people talk about the year that defined an era in the United States.
Sparked by a passing rail car, the fire ignited what was already the notoriously polluted river bisecting Cleveland, once a major hub of the iron trade. The river had already caught fire at least a dozen times over the previous century, including a massive blaze in 1952, but this time the fire elicited a different reaction after it was featured in the national press: It became a symbol of the nascent environmental movement.
While American has come a long way from the days of smog-choked cities and burning rivers, pollution persists in various ways. Cities can suffer from poor air and water quality, as well as overcrowded, trash-strewn, vermin-infested living conditions that drive down qualities of life, and lifespans, especially in poorer and marginalized communities. (These issues are hardly unique to the U.S. These are the world’s most stressed-out cities.)
For understandable reasons, the dirtiest cities tend to be the most crowded ones. But determining which cities are worse than others depends on different factors, such as the level of air pollution caused by local industries. A city might rank high on effective waste disposal but get low marks due to poor living conditions.
To identify America’s dirtiest cities, 24/7 Tempo reviewed a ranking created by LawnStarter, a lawn care start-up that frequently conducts research into city and state amenities. The site compared the country’s 200 largest cities across 20 key metrics, encompassing indicators of pollution, living conditions, resident satisfaction with city cleanliness, and infrastructure factors to assign each one an overall score. (These are America’s least and most environmentally friendly states.)
Click here to see America’s 50 dirtiest cities
To that score and the ranking of each city of resident satisfaction with city cleanliness, 24/7 Tempo added each municipality’s average daily PM2.5 (the concentration of particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) per cubic meter of air, drawn from the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation. Total population is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey five-year estimates.
50. Torrance, California
> LawnStarter score: 36.5
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #156 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 145,492
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49. Lancaster, California
> LawnStarter score: 36.6 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #156 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 159,028
48. Arlington, Texas
> LawnStarter score: 36.6 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #91 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 8.8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 395,477
47. Chandler, Arizona
> LawnStarter score: 36.7
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #142 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 252,692
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46. Newport News, Virginia
> LawnStarter score: 37.3 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #4 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 7.8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 179,673
45. Modesto, California
> LawnStarter score: 37.3 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #10 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12.6 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 212,616
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44. Santa Ana, California
> LawnStarter score: 37.6
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #35 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.4 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 332,794
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43. Stockton, California
> LawnStarter score: 38.5
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #5 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 14.1 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 309,228
42. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
> LawnStarter score: 38.8
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #19 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 10.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 1,579,075
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41. Pomona, California
> LawnStarter score: 38.9 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #156 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 152,209
40. Bakersfield, California
> LawnStarter score: 38.9 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #9 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 16 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 377,917
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39. Birmingham, Alabama
> LawnStarter score: 39.3
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #79 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 10.8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 212,297
38. Pasadena, Texas
> LawnStarter score: 39.5 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #156 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 10.1 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 153,350
37. Peoria, Arizona
> LawnStarter score: 39.5 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #120 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 168,196
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36. Scottsdale, Arizona
> LawnStarter score: 39.6
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #99 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 250,602
35. Tampa, Florida
> LawnStarter score: 40.1 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #105 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 8.6 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 387,916
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34. Miami, Florida
> LawnStarter score: 40.1 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #50 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 7.7 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 454,279
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33. Aurora, Colorado
> LawnStarter score: 40.5
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #51 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.2 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 369,111
32. Tempe, Arizona
> LawnStarter score: 40.6
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #93 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 187,454
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31. Riverside, California
> LawnStarter score: 40.8
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #44 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 14.1 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 326,414
30. Henderson, Nevada
> LawnStarter score: 41
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #60 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 10.8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 300,116
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29. Jersey City, New Jersey
> LawnStarter score: 41.3
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #25 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.6 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 261,940
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28. San Francisco, California
> LawnStarter score: 41.6
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #24 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 7.6 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 874,961
27. Akron, Ohio
> LawnStarter score: 41.7
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #29 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 10.3 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 198,051
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26. Kansas City, Kansas
> LawnStarter score: 42.1
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #67 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 152,522
25. Fresno, California
> LawnStarter score: 42.5
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #6 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 14.4 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 525,010
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24. Santa Clarita, California
> LawnStarter score: 42.7
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #139 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 213,411
23. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
> LawnStarter score: 42.8
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #111 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 8.4 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 643,692
22. Dallas, Texas
> LawnStarter score: 43
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #47 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 8.8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 1,330,612
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21. Fort Worth, Texas
> LawnStarter score: 43.2
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #18 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 8.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 874,401
20. San Jose, California
> LawnStarter score: 43.5
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #28 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.1 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 1,027,690
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19. Las Vegas, Nevada
> LawnStarter score: 43.6
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #31 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 10.8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 634,773
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18. Detroit, Michigan
> LawnStarter score: 44.1 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #3 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 11.3 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 674,841
17. Anaheim, California
> LawnStarter score: 44.1 (tie)
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #22 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.4 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 349,964
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16. Pasadena, California
> LawnStarter score: 44.3
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #107 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 141,258
15. Fontana, California
> LawnStarter score: 44.4
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #21 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 14.8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 210,759
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14. Phoenix, Arizona
> LawnStarter score: 44.8
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #38 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 1,633,017
13. Mesa, Arizona
> LawnStarter score: 45
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #43 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 499,720
12. Glendale, California
> LawnStarter score: 46.3
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #78 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 200,232
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11. Aurora, Illinois
> LawnStarter score: 46.4
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #52 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 7.8 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 199,927
10. Chicago, Illinois
> LawnStarter score: 46.5
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #63 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 10 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 2,709,534
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9. Memphis, Tennessee
> LawnStarter score: 46.9
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #14 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 8.7 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 651,932
8. Long Beach, California
> LawnStarter score: 48
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #70 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 466,776
7. New Orleans, Louisiana
> LawnStarter score: 48.4
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #36 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 7.5 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 390,845
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6. New York, New York
> LawnStarter score: 49.2
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #13 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 9 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 8,419,316
5. San Antonio, Texas
> LawnStarter score: 49.3
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #34 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 7.3 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 1,508,083
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4. Houston, Texas
> LawnStarter score: 50
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #33 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 10.1 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 2,310,432
3. Newark, New Jersey
> LawnStarter score: 54.3
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #2 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 8.9 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 281,054
2. Los Angeles, California
> LawnStarter score: 54.7
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #12 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 3,966,936
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1. Palmdale, California
> LawnStarter score: 55.3
> Resident satisfaction with city cleanliness: #7 worst out of 200 cities
> Avg daily PM2.5 (county): 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter
> Population: 156,293
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