Description of the WalletHub 2019 Greenest Cities in America list. Where did Sacramento, CA rank on the list of 100 largest cities?
WalletHub compared the largest 100 cities in the United States across 26 key indicators to determine the ranking (highest-lowest) of cities – and Sacramento placed #8 on the list. Not only that – Sacramento moved up one place from 2018 when it was ranked #9.
Ranking #1 overall was San Francisco with a total score of 72.48. Bumped from #1 to #2 was San Diego with a total score of 72.04. Ranking last overall at #100 was Baton Rouge, LA with a total score of 35.43. Baton Rouge also brought up the rear at #100 in 2018.
SacramentoRevealed.com – All Things Sacramento (from a personal perspective)
Ranking #8 overall was Sacramento with a total score of 65.90:
- Environment Rank – 43
- Transportation Rank – 16
- Energy Source Rank – 17
- Life & Policy Rank – 5
Ranking and total score of other California cities in the Top 10:
- #3 – Irvine – 69.83
- #5 – San Jose – 68.42
- #7 – Fremont – 67.13
- #10 – Oakland – 65.32
Ranking and total score of other California cities:
- #14 – Chula Vista – 61.20
- #16 – San Bernardino – 60.59
- #19 – Los Angeles – 60.22
- #22 – Long Beach – 58.79
- #23 – Riverside – 56.68
- #24 – Fresno – 57.49
- #25 – Stockton – 56.89
- #27 – Santa Ana – 56.09
- #28 – Anaheim – 55.79
- #34 – Bakersfield – 52.72
Methodology Used to Determine Ranking
How did WalletHub determine its rankings?
To determine the ranking four key areas were evaluated by WalletHub. The four key areas and examples of the metrics evaluated:
- Environment (median air quality index, greenhouse-gas emissions per capita; urban heat island effect, green space, water quality, daily water consumption per capita, population density)
- Transportation (share of commuters who drive alone, average commute time by car, miles of bicycle lanes; presence of bike-sharing program; annual excess fuel consumption, intersection density, accessibility to jobs by public transit, alternative-fuel stations per capita)
- Energy sources (share of electricity from renewable sources, solar photovoltaic (PV) installations per capita, number of smart-energy policies & initiatives)
- Lifestyle & Policy (farmers markets & CSA programs per capita, community garden plots per capita, “green” job opportunities, number of local programs promoting green-energy use)
You might have noted that “recycling” was not one of the metrics used. Recycling was not measured because of the lack of comparable city-level data i.e. ability to measure the availability of recycling programs or the amount of waste recycled in each city.
For full information on city rankings and the methodology used check out the WalletHub story at 2019’s Greenest Cities in America.
See related blog posts: Where Does Sacramento Rank? and Sacramento #9 on Greenest Cities in America List
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