There is a lot of trash lying around on the highways, which frustrates ODOT employees.
Once or twice a week, ODOT crews spend their shifts on the side of the road, scouring the grass for stray to-go cups with trash pickers in hand.
Doral Chenoweth, The Columbus Shipping Company
Lawn care company LawnStarter recently examined 303 U.S. cities, much like a mother checks a child’s room for cleanliness, and included them in its list of America’s dirtiest cities for 2024. Ohio cities like Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Akron made the list but did not rank at the top.
LawnStarter rated the cities based on 21 criteria divided into four main categories: pollution, living conditions, infrastructure, and resident dissatisfaction. Each city received a score out of 100 in each of these categories, and the average score of each category determined the city’s overall rating. Each city was also rated in each individual category.
The detailed methodology of the study is available on the LawnStarter website.
Where did Columbus rank on the list of dirtiest cities?
According to the list, Columbus is the 115th dirtiest city in the United States.
Its position was determined based on its ranking in four individual categories. Here’s how it performed in each category.
- 92. biggest pollution
- 168. worst living conditions
- 104. worst infrastructure
- 187. worst dissatisfaction of the residents
Top 10 dirtiest cities in the USA
The Buckeye State managed to keep all of its cities out of the top 10 of the list. Here are the dirtiest cities in the USA
- San Bernardino, California
- Detroit, Michigan
- Reading, Pennsylvania
- Newark, New Jersey
- Ontario, California
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Trenton, New Jersey
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Houston, Texas
- Baytown, Texas
How did other cities in Ohio fare?
Columbus is Ohio’s dirtiest city on the list, coming in at number 115. Here’s how Ohio’s other cities fared.
- 136. Cleveland
- 159. Cincinnati
- 161. Akron
- 184. Toledo
- 237. Dayton
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