Denver a top 10 cleanest metro area despite dirty scores in 2 categories: Study
DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver metro area ranked among the cleanest U.S. cities in a recent study, but the Mile High City was one of the dirtiest in some categories.
Carpet cleaning company Oxi Fresh conducted the study on the 35 largest U.S. metro areas and used the most recent data available from the Census Bureau's American Housing Survey and the Environmental Protection Agency, which was collected from 2019 to 2023
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The study analyzed each metro area's cleanliness across seven main factors: population density, rodents, cockroaches, vandalism, litter, air quality and tap water quality.
The Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro area ranked at No. 8 overall and earned a 'B' grade.
The Denver metro area's population is not as dense as some cities, and the city had a relatively low rate of things like cockroaches, rodents and vandalism, according to the report.
In the Denver metro, 91.9% of homes are free from vandalism or abandoned buildings within half a block. More than half of the cities included in the study had fewer than 90%.
Only six cities had fewer signs of cockroaches than Denver, where 2.5% of housing units showed signs of cockroaches being inside over the past 12 months.
However, Denver scored among the worst when it comes to air and tap water quality.
According to the report, the Denver metro area only had 78 days when air quality was classified as 'Good' for all pollutants in 2024, including CO, NO₂, Ozone, PM10, and PM2.5.
Over numerous checks from 2021 to 2023, Denver's tap water had an average of 12.5 contaminants at levels higher than what is considered healthy to drink by the Environmental Working Group. Meanwhile, Detroit recorded an average of 5 contaminants and Baltimore recorded an average of 7. The report shows that 12 cities had more water contaminants than Denver.
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Here are Denver's data points for the key factors in the study:
Population density: 360 people per square mile
Rodents: 9% of housing units show signs of mice, rats or other rodents inside in the past year
Cockroaches: 2.5% of housing units show signs of cockroaches inside in the past year
Vandalism: 91.9% of homes do not have vandalism or abandoned buildings within a half-block radius
Litter: 88.1% of homes do not have litter, trash or junk on the streets or properties within a half-block radius
Air quality: 78 days in 2024 when the Air Quality Index values were classified as 'Good' for all pollutants
Tap water quality: 12.5 different types of contaminants exceeding the Environmental Working Group health guidelines were detected in drinking water
The cleanest cities were found to be Portland, Seattle and Rochester. At the bottom of the list was New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston and Washington, D.C.
More information can be found in the full Oxi Fresh report online.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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