Detroit and Flint have the dubious distinction of earning two top 2024 spots in LawnStarter’s Dirtiest Cities in the United States.
The Motor City was ranked second on the list and Flint placed 12th.
Only number-one ranked San Bernardino, Calif., worsted Detroit. Flint bested another Golden State city, Los Angeles, (11th), Houston (ninth), and Phoenix (sixth). Lynchburg, Va., notched the cleanest city on the list with a 303 ranking, followed closely by second-place Duluth, Minn., at 302.
The three other Michigan cities on the list include Grand Rapids (ranked 122), Lansing (ranked 150), and Ann Arbor, by far the best ranking Michigan city at 292.
The study initially included 500 cities, but 197 cities lacked sufficient data in a single category, resulting in a final sample size of 303 cities.
Cities were scored according to several metrics, including Median Air Quality Index; Percentage of Smokers; Share of Homes Without Complete Kitchen Facilities; Share of Homes Without Complete Plumbing Facilities; and Share of Residents Who Find City Dirty and Untidy. Those metrics were separated in four categories: Pollution, Living Conditions, Infrastructure, and Resident Dissatisfaction.
Scores (out of 100 points) were calculated for each city to determine its rank in each factor, each category, and overall. The Overall Score is the average of its scores across all factors and categories.
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Out of a possible 100, with 1 being the best and 100 being the worst, Detroit’s overall score was 52.89. The 58 MAQI score ranked 25th. The city also ranked second in the nation for percentage of smokers, 29.1%. Detroit ranked first in the nation for homes lacking complete kitchen facilities, and second in the nation for homes with inadequate plumbing. A whopping 79.3% of the city’s residents see their hometown as dirty and untidy, ranking it fifth in the nation.
Flint’s overall score was 45.67. It scored 131 and 166, respectively, in the Pollution and Infrastructure categories, but far worse in Living Conditions (10th) and Resident Dissatisfaction (ninth) categories.
According to LawnStarter: “America’s Dirtiest Cities aren’t necessarily full of litterbugs — cities like San Bernardino, California (No. 1), and Detroit (No. 2), primarily deal with polluted air, high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, and records of drinking water violations.”