New data from WalletHub shows that San Diego, California is the “greenest” city in the country, with a score of 72.53 out of 100.
The company took a look at the 100 cities with the most people, in terms of four factors: “Energy Sources,” “Environment,” “Lifestyle & Policy” and “Transportation.” Then, they analyzed those in terms of 26 other factors before eventually giving each city a score of 100. WalletHub also used information from the U.S. Census Bureau, among many other sources.
Check out America’s top 10 “green cities”
Here they are:
1) San Diego, CA (total score: 72.53)
2) San Francisco, CA (total score: 72.14)
3) Washington, DC (total score: 70.39)
4) Irvine, CA (total score: 68.97)
5) San Jose, CA (total score: 68.69)
6) Honolulu, HI (total score: 68.41)
7) Fremont, CA (total score: 67.59)
8) Seattle, WA (total score: 66.91)
9) Sacramento, CA (total score: 66.06)
10) Portland, OR (total score: 65.19)
Check out America’s bottom 10 “green cities”
91) Gilbert, AZ (total score: 42.21)
92) Cleveland, OH (total score: 42.02)
93) Mesa, AZ (total score: 41.97)
94) Lexington-Fayette, KY (total score: 41.83)
95) Detroit, MI (total score: 41.57)
96) Memphis, TN (total score: 40.98)
97) Toledo, OH (total score: 40.31)
98) St. Louis, MO (total score: 39.53)
99) Corpus Christi, TX (total score: 36.53)
100) Baton Rouge, LA (total score: 36.07)
How the cities compare to each other
This infographic illustrates the different strengths and weaknesses of different cities on the list:
Here’s how to live with the environment in mind
Don’t worry— this is easier than you might think.
Stephanie Hayes Richards, managing principal of Gnarly Tree Sustainability Institute, told WalletHub about simple, cost-effective ways people can be more eco-friendly in their daily lives.
“Some easy ways individuals can reduce their environmental impact while saving money include turning lights off any time you leave a room for more than one minute, installing energy efficient lighting, trying to keep your thermostat around 78 degrees in summer and 68 degrees in winter, avoiding the purchase of bottled water, turning down the water heater setting to 120 degrees, taking shorter showers, buying house supplies in bulk, trying to eat vegetarian protein sources at least a couple meals each week, and combining weekly errands as much as possible to reduce gas usage,” she said.
