The 5 greenest cities in America — and the 5 worst for the environment

Protecting the environment is one of the defining issues of the 21st century, with the United Nations estimating that the global community has just five years left to cut emissions enough to avoid catastrophic climate change.

While it’s easy for environmentally-minded individuals to feel cynical or hopeless about the prospect of preventing climate change, many scientists argue that it’s important to remember that humans do have the ability to improve our planet’s health.

“Optimism gives us hope and audacity to go out and make change,” chemist Dick Co told Yale Climate Connections in 2022. “I don’t feel it helps me to look back at the last 100 years and go, ‘Well, we shouldn’t have done that.’ But now we know better about the impacts of that on climate, so we can do better.”

Across the United States, individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments are all taking steps to ensure a greener future.

“There are plenty of things that individuals can do to adopt a green lifestyle, from recycling to sharing rides to installing solar panels on their homes,” Chip Lupo, an analyst at the consumer finance site WalletHub, said in a statement. “However, living in one of the greenest cities can make it even easier to care for the environment, due to sustainable laws and policies, access to locally-grown produce and infrastructure that allows residents to use vehicles less often.”

The greenest cities, Lupo adds, also are better for your health due to their superior air and water quality.

WalletHub ranked the 100 largest cities in the U.S. based on their performance across four categories: environment, transportation, energy sources, and lifestyle and policy. The scores in each category were based on 28 metrics, including greenhouse-gas emissions per capita, accessibility of jobs by public transit, and the number of smart-energy policies and initiatives.

WalletHub pulled data for the analysis from an array of sources, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, and Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

Continue reading to learn more about the five greenest and five least-green cities in America.

5th worst: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the fifth worst city for the environment in America. The city is tied in last place for the highest greenhouse gas emissions per capita.

4th worst: Mesa, Arizona

Mesa is the fourth worst city for the environment in America. Mesa has the fourth lowest percentage of green space in America.

3rd worst: Houston, Texas

Houston is the third worst city for the environment in America. It has among the highest greenhouse gas emissions per capita.

2nd worst: Hialeah, Florida

Hialeah is the second worst city for the environment in America. The city has the lowest percentage of green space in America.

Worst: Glendale, Arizona

Glendale is the worst city for the environment in America. It performed poorly in nearly every category related to environmental health.

5th best: San Jose, California

San Jose is the fifth greenest city in America. The city came in second place for green energy.

4th best: San Francisco, California

San Francisco is the fourth greenest city in America. The tech hub has the third lowest percentage of commuters who drive and is the third best city for biking.

3rd best: Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the third greenest city in America. Hawaii’s capital city has the second lowest percentage of greenhouse gas emissions per capita.

2nd best: Washington, D.C.

The District of Columbia is the second greenest city in America. Washington has the fourth lowest percentage of commuters who drive.

Best: San Diego, California

San Diego is the greenest city in America. The city boasts the fifth highest number of farmers markets per capita.