Houston Named Dirtiest City of 2023 According to Study

Source: Aerial view of a large oil refinery in the foreground with the skyline of the city of Houston, Texas in the distance. (Art Wager/Getty Images)

Houston — Houston was named the dirtiest city in America according to a new study done on 150 cities across the country. LawnStarter, a lawn care service provider, based its study and the ranking of cities on pollution, living conditions, infrastructure and resident satisfaction.

Space City upset 2022’s dirtiest city, Newark, New Jersey, which fell to number two on the list.

LawnStarter even highlighted the fact that Houston’s petrochemical facilities have severely violated EPA safety guidelines, according to another study.

Source: Houston skyline photographed from the Quitman bridge over North bound I-45 looking South on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Houston came in first among all cities in cockroach issues. The city was third in “most greenhouse-gas emissions from large facilities per capita,” thanks to the industrial facilities in the area. It was ranked third in overall pollution as well. It also came in fourth for living conditions, 12th in infrastructure and 34th in consumer satisfaction.

Houston wasn’t alone when it came to the study’s top-10 dirtiest, as San Antonio found itself at seven. The Texas cities within the top-150 dirtiest include:

Houston at 1
San Antonio at 7
El Paso at 29
Dallas at 32
Amarillo at 35
Fort Worth at 40
Austin at 56
Waco at 62
Arlington at 72
Plano at 78
Frisco at 91
McKinney at 135

It’s worth noting that Houstonians were more satisfied with the cleanliness of their city than Amarillo and Fort Worth.

Houston, being the fourth-largest city in the United States, didn’t fare as well as some of the other larger cities in the U.S. New York, the largest in the country, came in 12th. Los Angeles followed close behind it at 15. Chicago was slotted just inside the top-100 at 96, while the fifth-largest city, Phoenix, was ranked 23rd.

The top-10 dirtiest cities in America are: