In this article, we will be taking a look at the top 20 most environmentally friendly cities in America. If you wish to see the top ones, head straight to the Top 5 Most Environmentally Friendly Cities in America.
According to latest research from Climate Central, a nonprofit research and communications group, average summer temperatures in nearly 230 U.S. cities have increased by 2.4°F between 1970 and 2022. The analysis conducted across 249 cities showed that the West, Southwest, and Northwest regions of the country are most impacted by climate change.
With average summertime temperatures currently 11.1°F higher than they were in 1970, Reno, Nevada, recorded the fastest warming summers. Boise, Idaho, and Las Vegas, Nevada, tied for second place on the list with a 5.8°F increase. Climate Central noted that there are serious health risks associated with the country's current warming trend, especially for children, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses.
The majority of Americans are aware of global climate change, and according to a Pew Research Center survey, 74% of respondents supported the U.S. taking action to combat the issue, and 67% supported an energy system that puts an emphasis on renewable sources like solar and wind power rather than fossil fuels production.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is determined to address the climate issue by shifting its energy mix away from fossil fuels and toward renewable sources like solar and wind. As per the Sustainable Energy in America 2023 Factbook, the country’s investment in clean energy reached its highest point in 2022 at $141 billion, despite supply chain disruptions, a global energy crisis, and rising interest rates driving up the cost of essential energy commodities. In addition, 40% of the nation's energy came from carbon-free sources last year, setting a new record. The Factbook, published by BloombergNEF (BNEF) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), also revealed that sales of electric vehicles (EVs) reached nearly 982,000 in 2022, up 50% from the year before.
In addition, the need to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is not felt equally by all US states. However, a number of states across the country are actively implementing green initiatives and policies in order to save the environment. For more information regarding these states, please refer to our article on the 20 Most Environmentally Friendly States in America.
Greenest Cities in the U.S.
In an effort to help move the country toward net-zero emissions, several American cities are actively contributing to the rapid growth of solar energy. However, the rate at which solar is deployed in various cities across the country is influenced by a number of factors, including climate, state and local policies, and energy prices among others.
Solar energy can currently power more than 23 million homes in the U.S., according to a 2022 report by Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group. The combined amount of solar installed in the top nine cities is more than what the entire nation had a decade ago.
Between 2014 and 2022, 15 out of 56 cities surveyed recorded a tenfold increase in their solar capacity, per the report. Honolulu, Hawaii is leading the way in solar power. The city has 1,133 watts of solar capacity installed per person. Following it are Las Vegas, Nevada, San Diego, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and San Jose, California.
On the other hand, a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie states that the U.S. solar industry is expected to grow 52% this year, installing nearly 32 gigawatts (GW) of production capacity, with the assistance of investment incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. Moreover, by 2028, it is projected that the United States' total operational solar capacity will soar to 375 GW.
In this context, investors can keep an eye on some of the top solar companies in the nation, like Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH)and First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR).
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), founded in 1999, designs, manufactures and sells PV solar modules. As of December 5, the stock has returned 4.46% to investors on a year-to-date basis. On October 31, First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) posted earnings for the third quarter of 2023, reporting a GAAP EPS of $2.50, beating market estimates by $0.46. The revenue over the period was $801.09 million, up 27.4% compared to the revenue over the same period last year.
Moreover, the company is popular with hedge funds. According to Insider Monkey’s third quarter database, 49 hedge funds were bullish on First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) and disclosed positions worth $1.1 billion in the company.
Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH), headquartered in Fremont, California, is a provider of photovoltaic solutions, with a key focus on the residential market.
Here are some comments from Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH)’s Q3 2023 Earnings Call:
“We reported quarterly revenue of $551.1 million, shipped approximately 3.9 million microinverters and 86 megawatt hours of batteries and generated free cash flow of $122 million. Approximately 86% of our Q3 microinverter shipments were IQ8. We exited the third quarter at 48% gross margin, 18% operating expense and 30% operating income, all as a percentage of revenue on a non-GAAP basis and including the IRA benefit.”
Expanding upon this, with electric vehicle (EV) ownership growing across the US, as a result of the federal investment and the ever-increasing focus on sustainability, an industry analysis report examined more than 100 of the largest metropolitan areas in the country by their electric vehicle infrastructure. The report found that the west coast, with 15 western hubs ranking among the top 20, dominates the nation's EV landscape.
While seven of the top 10 metros in the report were from California, Seattle, Washington, with over 47,000 EVs on its roads, around 0.6 public charging stations per 1,000 households and charging stations available at 7.3% of its rental properties, ranked number one for electric vehicle friendliness overall.
Adding to this, on October 12, Reuters reported that sales of electric vehicle (EV) in the U.S. increased to over 300,000 for the first time in the third quarter, with Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) dominating half of the market.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), based in Austin, Texas, currently has six manufacturing facilities across the world spanning 3 countries: the United States, China and Germany. The company produced 430,488 vehicles and delivered over 435,000 in Q3 2023. As of December 5, the stock has returned 91.25% to investors on a year-to-date basis.
Moreover, the number of hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey owning stakes in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) grew to 81 in Q3 2023, from 79 in the previous quarter. The collective value of these stakes is nearly $5.8 billion.
Top 20 Most Environmentally Friendly Cities in America
Our Methodology
For the purpose of this article, we made use of two reliable sources. These included 2023’s Greenest Cities in America from the personal-finance website WalletHub and the 2022 Most Sustainable Cities from SmartAsset.
The top 100 American cities were compared by WalletHub based on 28 key indicators of environmental friendliness and sustainability. SmartAsset compared 94 largest American cities in three categories like climate resilience, green efficiency, and transportation to put together a list of the country’s most sustainable cities.
We proceeded to assign a score to each city based on its ranking in each report. For instance, there are a total of 100 cities in WalletHub’s report. The #1 city in that report will get a score of 100/100=1, #2 city will get a score of 99/100=0.99 and so on. We repeated the same scoring methodology for the other report.
The overall score for each city was calculated by adding up their individual scores across the two reports. Finally, we sorted the cities by their total scores and identified the top 20 most environmentally friendly cities in America.
Top 20 Most Environmentally Friendly Cities in America
20. Los Angeles, CA
Overall Score: 1.52
Los Angeles, located on the west coast of Southern California, is one of the nation's greenest cities. The total solar capacity of the city is 649.9 megawatts, or 166.7 watts per person.
19. Fremont, CA
Overall Score: 1.53
Fremont, a city in Alameda County, California, has a population of 230,504 as of 2020. 73% of the city's residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, according to the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a U.S. nonprofit, land conservation organization.
18. Baltimore, MD
Overall Score: 1.55
Baltimore, a major city in Maryland, is one of the most environmentally friendly cities in America. Based on data from StorageCafe, the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is ranked 12th in the country for EV friendliness.
17. Long Beach, CA
Overall Score: 1.55
According to the Trust for Public Land (TPL), 83% of Long Beach, California residents live within ten minutes' walking distance of one of the city’s 169 parks.
16. San Diego, CA
Overall Score: 1.59
Next up on our list of most environmentally friendly cities in America is San Diego, located on the Pacific coast of California. With over 73K EVs in the San Diego metro area, there are 6.3 EVs for every 100 households.
15. Madison, WI
Overall Score: 1.61
As we previously noted in one of our articles, Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, is frequently referred to as the bike capital of the Midwest and is among the greenest cities in the country.
14. San Jose, CA
Overall Score: 1.64
San Jose, located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay, has the fifth-highest solar capacity installed per person in the nation at 287 watts.
13. Sacramento, CA
Overall Score: 1.66
Sacramento, capital of the U.S. state of California, has a population of 524,924 as of 2020 census. 84% of residents live within a 10-minute stroll of one of the city's 262 parks.
Moreover, Sacramento has 737 public charging stations. It is one of the most eco-friendly cities in the U.S.
12. Denver, CO
Overall Score: 1.72
According to data from StorageCafe, Denver, the capital of Colorado, is among the top 20 cities in the nation for overall electric vehicle friendliness.
11. New York, NY
Overall Score: 1.73
New York City leads the nation in the percentage of workers who use public transportation for commuting, at 36.65%, according to SmartAsset's 2022 Most Sustainable Cities report.
10. Saint Paul, MN
Overall Score: 1.74
A staggering 99% of people in Saint Paul, the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota, reside just ten minutes' walk from a park.
Moreover, according to SmartAsset's 2022 Most Sustainable Cities report, it ranks in the top 35 cities in the country for all five climate resilience metrics. It is among the most environmentally friendly cities in America.
9. Minneapolis, MN
Overall Score: 1.79
Parks and recreational areas occupy 15% of the land in Minneapolis, a major city in Minnesota.
8. Boston, MA
Overall Score: 1.80
Boston, Massachusetts, was ranked as the most sustainable city in America in 2022 by SmartAsset, scoring especially high in transportation and green efficiency.
7. Oakland, CA
Overall Score: 1.81
Oakland is located on the west coast of the state of California. Approximately 90% of the city’s electricity is generated from carbon-free sources.
6. Honolulu, HI
Overall Score: 1.82
Honolulu, capital of Hawaii, ranks first for installed solar capacity per capita (1,133.5 watts/person) in the United States.
