Top 10 Dirtiest Cities in the United States (2024)

Living in a city offers numerous benefits, from entertainment to greater work prospects, improved public transportation, and more opportunity for free, public events. However, there are drawbacks to living in an urban area beyond merely a high standard of rent. The majority of cities struggle with issues like deteriorating buildings, issues with garbage disposal, pest infestation, litter-filled streets, and air and water pollution. These aggravate the city’s or region’s stench. Where does your city stack up against the other places in terms of cleanliness? See how your city performed on this list of the ten dirtiest cities in the U.S.

TOP 10 DIRTIEST CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES (2024)

Here are the top dirtiest American cities.

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY

Newark came in first as the least unclean city when it comes to the proportion of inhabitants who think their city is dirty or messy in the U.S.A. It was also placed first by the percentage of citizens who were unsatisfied with waste disposal. The city came in second-place when it came to citizens’ satisfaction with the city’s parks and vegetation, the city came in second. Despite not being for everyone, Newark is a beautiful city that keeps doing what it does. It’s not really a decent neighborhood to live in Newark. It’s filthy and unsafe. Simply said, there is a lot of criminality in the area. The water is filthy and has issues with garbage disposal which could be hazardous due to a number of pollutants. Newark City is aesthetically stunning due to the profound artworks that have been painted on its buildings and streets.

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles is the second-dirtiest city in the US behind New York. Los Angeles was located rather high on a list that it most likely would not want to be on. This won’t shock anybody who has ever seen the mid-afternoon smog haze on any particular day. The main reason for the City of Angels’ high ranking on the list is poor air quality. But they are also filthy places to live and play because of the abundance of trash and vermin there.

SAN BERNARDINO (RIVERSIDE)

Riverside San Bernardino doesn’t seem to qualify as the dirtiest city in light of the fact that every other city on the list is a significant metropolitan center. However, the horrible reality that the air quality in this Californian metropolis is appalling cannot be avoided. This area’s air quality received a “F” from the American Lung Association due to the regular prevalence of particle pollution. The promotion of cleaner automobiles and other clean air regulations are helpful. However, they are still insufficient to prevent this region from ranking third in terms of squalor in the country.

CHICAGO

Chicago is allegedly regarded as a dirty city. Despite having tidy residential areas, it is well renowned for having some of the dirtiest roadways in the nation. Many claim that Chicago’s multiculturalism is what makes the city what it is. I think economic position is more important than culture. Chicago is the dirtiest city in the Midwest. When that so many people congregate in one area, there will inevitably be trash, and wherever there is trash, there is a chance that pests may eat up the leftover food. Locals in Chicago reject this assertion, claiming that their city has many clean streets. However, only a few blocks away from every spotless sidewalk lies a filthy one. The result of adding them all up is the

PHILADELPHIA

Many things make Philadelphia a beautiful city. Pennsylvania’s biggest city boasts a thriving economy, a long history, and a lively culture. But there are issues, one of which is how filthy the streets and communities are. How come Philadelphia is so dirty? Philadelphia is the dirtiest in terms of big US cities. This is a result of a number of factors, including a culture of littering, indifference, and faulty rubbish packaging. However, the city has a number of initiatives in place to keep the streets clean. It invests millions in a variety of initiatives, such as mechanized street cleaning.

PHOENIX

The Phoenix city’s air is extremely polluted and hazardous to breathe because of particle pollution and issues with garbage disposal. Phoenix was ranked sixth on the list because of its extremely bad air quality. Phoenix is a city in the Southwest. The majority of the country’s major air pollution is ascribed to Californian cities, however Phoenix also has a serious issue. They were ranked among the worst polluters by the American Lung Association.

HOUSTON

Houston is peculiar since there isn’t any zoning. As you leave the city, the freeways become increasingly unsightly until you reach the suburbs. Texas is home to several dirty cities, but only Houston holds the distinction of having the third-highest number of dirtiest streets in America. Houston also serves as the location of the majority of oil refineries and chemical industries in the country, rendering it a sanctuary for hazardous air pollution. In actuality, the structures around the Ship Channel emit more than 20 million pounds of contaminated air annually.

DENVER

Denver has middle class and average education level citizens, which makes trash not to be kept in trash cans and off on the streets. Denver locals take pleasure in leading active, healthy lifestyles outside. But when you consider the poor air quality, all that exercise might be for nothing. The seventh dirtiest city has an abnormally high level of particle air pollution, or “smog.” The poor air quality is attributed to a wide range of sources by the Environmental Protection Agency, including emissions from vehicles, electric utilities, and industrial operations.

SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco has some of the dirtiest streets in America and is filthy for many reasons, but homeliness is undoubtedly a major one. The city’s central business district is filthier with trash, needles, and feces than some of the world’s most impoverished slums. If you left your body in San Francisco, chances are you also left some other trash behind. Its ranking as the eighth dirtiest city in America reflects this. San Francisco has lovely, attractive parts and then there is the remainder of the city, which contains a sizable number of homeless people. There is no guarantee that those who live on the streets have access to public restrooms.

MIAMI

Miami could be dirtier than other cities when it comes to cleanliness. They are not particularly clean, to put it simply. However, these are not the dirtiest slag heaps in the country due to issues with garbage disposal. Miami is a large city with an equally startlingly high pest population per resident. In fact, cockroaches could find plenty of dance partners lurking in the background if the inhabitants of this Florida hotspot decided to take them out to the bars.