green thumbs up
Austin gets a green thumbs up on ranking of environmentally friendly U.S. cities
Considering Austin’s growing population, we’re getting the green light when it comes to the city’s impact on the environment, especially when compared with other Texas metros.
The Capital City lands at No. 26 among the 100 largest U.S. cities in a new WalletHub ranking of the country’s greenest places, making Austin the greenest city ranked in the Lone Star State.
To determine the cities promoting an environmentally friendly lifestyle, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across 28 key green indicators. Those factors include greenhouse gas emissions per capita, number of smart energy policies and initiatives, and green job opportunities.
Here’s a sampling of how well Austin did in the overall showing, with No. 1 being best, No. 50 being average, and No. 100 being worst:
- Excess fuel consumption per year, No. 78.
- Greenhouse gas emissions per capita, No. 73.
- Median air quality index, No. 34.
- Share of commuters who drive alone, No. 31.
- Percentage of green space, No. 40.
- Farmers markets per capita, No. 12.
- Walkability, No. 55.
- Bikeability, No. 48.
Here is where other Texas cities landed on the greenest cities list:
Garland, No. 44.
San Antonio, No. 46.
Laredo, No. 68.
El Paso, No. 69.
Irving, No. 74.
Plano, No. 79.
Lubbock, No. 83.
Arlington, No. 85.
Dallas, No. 89.
Corpus Christi, No. 90.
Houston, No. 93.
San Diego tops the WalletHub list.
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A version of this story originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.
