Two Minnesota Cities Listed Among The Dirtiest In The United States

Minnesota is a big and beautiful state. However, there is no beauty without pain. Nothing pains a Minnesotan more than calling the city they live in, dirty.

Just yesterday I stumbled across what some say is t the prettiest small town in Minnesota. Today, I found out two of the two dirtiest in the state, and that even got roped into a list of the dirtiest cities in the entire United States.

There are also quite a bit of big cities in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Let's be honest, some of those big cities have areas filled with poor living conditions, pollution, potholes, and more. Those areas definitely aren't inviting and they are areas you probably can't wait to get out of.

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A new study from Lawn Starter released the list of dirtiest cities in the U.S. for 2023. 152 cities made the list. Before we dive into which Minnesota cities are on it, let's take a look at the science and data that went into the study:

• Pollution - Things like the worst and best air quality, water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and more.
• Living conditions - This went  over homes without proper structure and plumbing, overcrowded homes, and homes with extra visitors like rats, cockroaches, mold, and other issues.
• Infrastructure - This one looked at the tonnage of waste per residents in landfills.
• Consumer satisfaction - The amount of time people spend in the area due to pollution, green space, garbage situations, and more.

Overall, Minnesota cities didn't do too badly compared to others that made the list. However, two cities from the North Star state did make the top 5 for "Highest Shares Of Homes With Signs Of Mice Or Rats In The Last 12 Months".

The top five dirtiest cities in the United States may or may not surprise you:

1. Houston, TX
2. Newark, NJ
3. San Bernardino, CA
4. Detroit, MI
5. Jersey City, NJ

Believe it or not, the same two cities that ranked top 5 with homes with rats, also earned spots in the top 150 dirtiest cities this year. Here are the Minnesota cities that may need some cleaning up to do:

Minneapolis

The most populated city in Minnesota comes in as the 131st dirtiest city in America. Not too bad if you take into consideration that there are 130 dirtier cities in the U.S. than this one.

However, here's how the city scored: 127th in Consumer Satisfaction, 125th in Pollution, 124th in Infrastructure, and the city's worst rank was Living Conditions coming in at 48th.

Any guesses on the other Minnesota city making the list?

St. Paul

Coming in at two places behind Minneapolis is the next biggest city in the state. St. Paul is ranked overall at 133rd for dirtiest cities in the entire United States.

Here's how this city scored: 146th in Consumer Satisfaction, 117th in Infrastructure, 111th in Pollution, and just like Minneapolis, the worst rating in St. Paul is Living Conditions coming in at 40th (which is worse than Minneapolis).