OC In Middle Of The Rat Pack Of Dirtiest Places In America: Study

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A recent study ranking the dirtiest cities in America put Orange County in the middle of the rat pack.

Santa Ana and Anaheim were ranked the dirtiest in the county on LawnStarter’s 2023 list, at 84th and 85th, respectively, with Huntington Beach not far behind at 94th.

The best of the bunch? Irvine, at 104th overall, according to the lawn care company’s study.

It could definitely 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. Los Angeles came in 15th.

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

The study compared more than 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.