America has a new "dirtiest city," and it's still not the one with three million rats.
San Bernadino, California took the top spot in a May study by Lawnstarter updated on Monday, unseating the study's last champion, Houston.
According to Lawnstarter, the updated study expanded the scope to encompass 148 more cities than the last round, taking air pollution, water quality, waste management, and resident "dissatisfaction" into account, along with 17 other metrics.
San Bernadino came in with an overall score of 54.90, ranking 2nd overall in pollution and 1st overall in resident dissatisfaction.
Detriot(MI), Reading (PA), Newark (NJ), and Ontario (CA) round out the updated studies top five. Newark was the 2nd dirtiest city behind Houston, but has since moved down to 4th. Houston now sits at 9.
California has the most cities in the top 10 with 3. New Jersey and Texas both have two, and Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Nevada have one.
New York City, America's most populated city, came in at #16, despite having a rat population of over three million in 2023, according to MMPC. By size, New York is roughly five times larger than San Bernadino.
According to Lawnstarter, San Bernadino and Detriot primarily deal with polluted air and high greenhouse gas emissions, and are not necessarily filled with trash.
You can find out where your city ranks here.
