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Colorado city dubbed one of ‘dirtiest’ places in US in recent data analysis

By Spencer McKee July 30, 2025 | updated 3 days ago

Street bins overflowing with garbage File photo: georgeclerk (iStock).

File photo. Photo Credit: georgeclerk (iStock).

georgeclerk

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Landscaping and lawn care-related company LawnStarter has released their annual report of the country’s ‘dirtiest cities,’ including a number of data points in their analysis that fell into greater categories of ‘pollution rank,’ ‘inadequate living conditions rank,’ ‘inadequate waste infrastructure rank,’ and ‘resident dissatisfaction rank.’

The company started their analysis by looking at the country’s 500 largest cities. A total of 197 cities in that group didn’t have adequate data to be included in the report, leaving LawnStarter with a total of 303 cities to compare across 19 related metrics.

Once the numbers were crunched, the ‘dirtiest’ city nationwide was determined to be San Bernardino, California, with the Golden State home to seven of the 15 ‘dirtiest’ cities on the list.

While Colorado didn’t perform that poorly, several Colorado cities didn’t do too hot.

The worst-ranking city in Colorado was determined to be Aurora, ranking as the 31st ‘dirtiest’ city nationwide of the 303 cities included in the report. The city’s pollution rank and waste infrastructure were key reasons for this poor performance.

Other Colorado cities ranked as follows:

  • 100th: Pueblo
  • 126th: Colorado Springs
  • 150th: Greeley
  • 155th: Fort Collins
  • 164th: Loveland
  • 174th: Denver
  • 182nd: Boulder
  • 216th: Longmont

While no Colorado performed as poorly as Aurora’s 31st-place ranking overall, two cities were also highlighted among spots with the most greenhouse-gas emissions per capita nationwide – Pueblo, ranking 2nd in terms of that data point, and Denver ranking 8th.

The ‘cleanest’ city nationwide was determined to be South Bend, Indiana, followed by Wilmington, North Carolina, and Des Moines, Iowa.

Find the full report from LawnStarter here.

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