Two Kentucky Cities Named Among the 'Dirtiest Cities' in the US

Two Kentucky cities found themselves on a list that they shouldn't be too proud of.

Kentucky towns are really a hot topic lately. When it comes to the Commonwealth, we have no shortage of small towns with a few big cities scattered in there too. Everyone has small-town pride nowadays. Recently we have covered many of these towns in articles such as Kentucky city is one of the most mispronounced places in America, the safest town in Kentucky, a Kentucky city named one of the rudest in America, and one Kentucky city is among the best in the nation for pet owners.

To keep up with the theme of Kentucky towns, I saw a study about the dirtiest cities in the United States. The website Lawnstarter is famous for its annual dirtiest cities in America list. Even though it says these are the dirtiest cities for 2023, it was just updated to the new 2024 version a couple of weeks ago. The list features the top 150 dirtiest cities in the country and out of all 150, there are two cities that are found in Kentucky. Chances are, they may or may not come as a surprise.

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Two Kentucky Cities Named Among the 'Dirtiest Cities' in the US

Before I reveal these dirty Kentucky cities, here's what LawnStarter had to say about compiling the data to discover the dirtiest cities across the country:

"For each of the 200 biggest U.S. cities, we gathered publicly available data on the factors listed in the table below. We then grouped those factors into four categories: Pollution, Living Conditions, Infrastructure, and Consumer Satisfaction. Next, we calculated weighted scores for each city in each category. Finally, we averaged the scores for each city across all categories. We eliminated 48 cities lacking sufficient data for a fair comparison, resulting in a final sample size of 152 cities."

Alright, so let's get to what you came here for. The two Kentucky cities that made this list didn't even make the top 50, so that's a plus. However, they still made the list, so take it for what it's worth. Louisville came in at number 58 out of 150. Looking at the data, Louisville ranked 70th in pollution, 105th in living conditions, 9th in infrastructure, and 58th in consumer satisfaction.

Lexington was the other Kentucky city that made this list. It came in at number 140 out of 150 Looking at the data again, Lexington ranked 134th in pollution, 152nd in living conditions, 24th in infrastructure, and 143rd in consumer satisfaction.

You can see the complete list and discover the dirtiest cities in America by clicking here.

LOOK: Here are the 25 best places to live in Kentucky

Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in Kentucky using data from Niche. Niche ranks places to live based on a variety of factors including cost of living, schools, health care, recreation, and weather. Cities, suburbs, and towns were included. Listings and images are from realtor.com.

On the list, there's a robust mix of offerings from great schools and nightlife to high walkability and public parks. Some areas have enjoyed rapid growth thanks to new businesses moving to the area, while others offer glimpses into area history with well-preserved architecture and museums. Keep reading to see if your hometown made the list.