Four Michigan Cities Among Dirties in America

Michigan is well-regarded for its natural beauty. The entire state provides an eye-catching fall pallet of colors, the Upper Peninsula has wonderous snow and ice, and the Great Lakes are a marvelous attraction.

Rural Michigan holds up really, really well - just ignore some of the road conditions. But the same can't always be said for Michigan's most-populated cities.

For many years, Detroit has been ranked as the dirtiest city in America, and other cities in the state haven't faired much better. Fortunately, there is some improvement in 2024.

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Lawstarter released a study ranking the top 300 most heavily populated cities in the United States and ranked them from dirtiest to cleanest. In all, five Michigan cities were included on the list. Four of those cities ranked in the top half as the dirtiest cities in America, while one was among the cleanest.

While you wonder which Michigan city is among the cleanest in the country, let's look at the four cities that ranked among the dirtiest in the nation.

These Four Michigan Cities Are Dirty

No. 150 - Lansing

While Lansing scored well for its residents' living conditions, average rankings in the other three categories helped cement Lansing nearly square in the middle of the states included in the study.

No. 122 - Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids scored above-average grades for pollution and resident satisfaction but were below average in living conditions and infrastructure. These seem par for the course for a growing city such as Grand Rapids. While Grand Rapids residents would like things to be a bit cleaner, the city's ranking is fairly tolerable.

No. 12 - Flint

Flint just missed landing in the top 10 dirtiest cities in the country, which might just be a win considering the city's reputation. Still, top-10 scores in poor living conditions and resident dissatisfaction drug down the city rather than pollution and infrastructure concerns. Like most major Michigan cities, things are slowly heading in the right direction here, the improvement is just slower than people would like.

No. 2 - Detroit

Speaking of improved cities, Detroit usually lands at the top of this list, but San Bernardino, California, took the top spot.

Detroit had a top-5 worst rank for living conditions and resident dissatisfaction while also scoring the 19th-worst score for pollution.

Infrastructure is improving in Michigan, though at a slow pace. Again, things are getting better and most people can see it, but the Motor City still has a long way to go.

Which Michigan City Is One of the Cleanest in America?

The study actually included exactly 303 cities nationwide, and while four Michigan cities landed in the dirtier half of the list, one Michigan city stands apart just outside of the top 10 cleanest cities in the country.

Ann Arbor came in as the 11th-cleanest city in the nation among the 303 most heavily populated cities. Ann Arbor ranked quite highly for its scores in pollution and infrastructure. The city ranked in the top half of all four categories in the study.