San Diego was ranked the “greenest city” in the United States on Wednesday, narrowly beating out San Francisco, in a new report by WalletHub.
The Washington, DC-based financial information website compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 26 key indicators of environmental friendliness and sustainability. The data used ranged from greenhouse gas emissions per capita to green job opportunities per capita to the number of smart-energy policies and initiatives.
San Diego beat San Francisco by less than 1 percent in total green score. Washington, DC, came in third, Irvine in Orange County fourth, and San Jose fifth.
Dead last was Baton Rouge, LA, a major oil refining center. The lowest-ranked California city was Bakersfield, also an oil center, at 57.
“Cities across the U.S. have increased their sustainability efforts and benefited economically,” WalletHub noted in its report.