Like any major city, Houston is not without its problems. Though the common gripes with the city concern the traffic or its lack of walkability (which is changing, by the way) apparently there’s another one that we’ve frankly never considered: smell. Though unpleasant smells is commonplace in all major cities, a new study has concluded that Houston is the worst smelling city in the United States.
The study was conducted by Prilla, an online retailer. In attempt to determine the freshest cities in America – as well as the opposite – Prilla conducted an analysis of 74 of the largest U.S. cities. Data factored into the study include the following;
- air quality
- amount of waste transfer stations and landfills
- estimated pet ownership
- filed sewage complaints with city services
- odor-related terms searched on Google
- estimated pet ownership
Factoring in the data, the study attributed a numerical value or freshness score to each city. Houston’s, the study found, is 56.09 (out of 100). While a number of factors lead to the city’s unfortunate score, the largest contributors were the city’s 687 industrial facilities. Additionally, last year Houston experienced 63 days of unhealthy air quality with 50 complaints per 100,000 residents regarding sewage filed with city services.
The top 5 worst smelling cities in the United States, according to the study, are as follows:
- Houston, Texas
- Los Angeles, California
- New York City, New York
- Orlando, Florida
- Riverside, California
Elsewhere in Texas, El Paso ended up on the other side of the scale ranking as the fifth freshest city in the United States. Notably, the Texas city didn’t experience a day of unhealthy air quality last year. The freshest cities in the United States are ranked in the study as such:
- Reno, Nevada
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Oakland, California
- El Paso, Texas
“Western mountain cities and coastal locations dominate the fresh air rankings, while sprawling Sun Belt metros and dense Eastern cities populate the smelly end,” states the study. “Nevada alone claims two spots in the top 10 freshest cities, suggesting that desert climates and lower humidity help keep bad smells from lingering.”