With October being National Energy Awareness Month and a major solar energy producer recently receiving an exemption to the Trump Administration’s tariffs, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Greenest Cities in America as well as accompanying videos.
To determine which cities promote a “green” lifestyle, WalletHub compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 26 key indicators of environmental friendliness and sustainability. The data set ranges from greenhouse-gas emissions per capita to green job opportunities per capita to number of smart-energy policies and initiatives.
| Greenest Cities in America | Least Green Cities in America | |||
| 1 | San Diego, CA | 91 | Gilbert, AZ | |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA | 92 | Cleveland, OH | |
| 3 | Washington, DC | 93 | Mesa, AZ | |
| 4 | Irvine, CA | 94 | Lexington, KY | |
| 5 | San Jose, CA | 95 | Detroit, MI | |
| 6 | Honolulu, HI | 96 | Memphis, TN | |
| 7 | Fremont, CA | 97 | Toledo, OH | |
| 8 | Seattle, WA | 98 | St. Louis, MO | |
| 9 | Sacramento, CA | 99 | Corpus Christi, TX | |
| 10 | Portland, OR | 100 | Baton Rouge, LA | |
Best vs. Worst
- Lubbock, Texas, has the lowest median air-quality index, 25, which is four times lower than in Riverside and San Bernardino, California, the cities with the highest at 99 (Lowest index = Best).
- Fremont, California, has the most green space, 37.25 percent, which is 24.5 times more than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the least at 1.52 percent.
- New York has the highest walk score, 89, which is four times higher than in Chesapeake, Virginia, the city with the lowest at 22.
- Honolulu has the most farmers markets (per square root of population), 0.1216, which is 64 times more than in Newark, New Jersey, the city with the fewest at 0.0019.
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/