LA Has Some of The 'Dirtiest' Communities In The Nation: Study

LOS ANGELES, CA — A recent study ranked the Los Angeles area among the dirtiest in the nation.

Los Angeles came in 15th on LawnStarter’s list of the dirtiest cities in America of 2023, with Palmdale not far behind at 17th. Glendale was 28th, Long Beach was 43rd, and Pasadena was 60th out of the 152 cities ranked.

The best of the bunch? Santa Clarita, at 81st overall, although it was ranked fourth dirtiest in the pollution category, according to the lawncare company’s study.

Another particularly high ranking for the area was the consumer satisfaction category, in which Palmdale was 11th and Los Angeles came in 12th.

But it could be worse. Inland Empire hub San Bernardino was ranked the third dirtiest city in the nation, with the worst rankings in the country for the categories of pollution and consumer satisfaction.

Faring far better was the Bay Area. Sunnyvale was the second-least dirty city ranked, at 151st. San Francisco was 97th.

The study compared over 150 of the biggest U.S. cities across four categories: pollution, living conditions, infrastructure and consumer satisfaction. LawnStarter gathered public data on factors such as median air quality index, greenhouse gas emissions, the share of homes with signs of mice or rats, the number of unsheltered unhoused people per 1,000 residents, and tons of landfill waste per 100,000 residents.

To determine the rankings, LawnStarter calculated weighted scores for each city in each category and averaged the scores.

“These problems are unsightly, but they’re more harmful than we might realize," LawnStarter reported. “Air pollution, for instance, worsens lung cancer and increases our chances of heart disease and stroke.”

For more information and to view the full rankings, visit bit.ly/3WAIWRr.