Ranking Results: The Dirtiest City In Colorado May Surprise You

The state of Colorado is full of beauty, but there are a few cities that might be dragging down the state's reputation by being "dirty".

According to a report from Lawn Starter, one Colorado city landed in the top 20 of 2022’s Dirtiest Cities in America.

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Colorado AQI

Do you know what AQI stands for? To be quite honest, I had no clue before I moved to Colorado. Luckily for me, my Google Nest Hub schooled me on what the Air Quality Index (AQI) actually is.

The AQI measures how much pollution is in the air currently, or how much is forecasted. The more the AQI rises, the more health risks there are for the public.

The Bad News For Colorado

The Colorado city that appeared highest on the rankings for 2022's Dirtiest Cities in America happened to be Aurora, Colorado.

Aurora ranked at number 16, and following not far behind was the city of Denver, at number 22.

However, Denver ranked 1st in the U.S. for the most greenhouse-gas emissions per capita. Yikes.

Aurora also ranked 4th when it came to the highest share of residents dissatisfied with time in the city due to pollution.

The Other Dirty Factors

It seems like pollution is the big thing that pulled us down here in Colorado, but there were other factors that contributed to the rankings as well.

The other major key factors in identifying "dirty" cities included:

Living Conditions - like the number of homes with mold, mice, and rats
Infrastructures - such as the number of junkyards and the share of roads in poor condition
Consumer Satisfaction - such as the share of residents who find the city dirty and untidy

While things could be worse, it still isn't encouraging to appear on a list of "dirty" cities.

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Filed Under: Colorado, Denver Colorado

Categories: Colorado News, Colorado Outdoors, National News