Wallethub (AKA the local media’s favorite website for Philly ranking clickbait), ranked Philly #33 out of 100 cities for their ‘greenness’.

“Greenness” of Philadelphia (1=Best; 50=Avg.)

59th – Greenhouse-Gas Emissions per Capita
33rd – % of Green Space
8th – % of Commuters Who Drive
11th – Bike Score
16th – Number of Farmers Markets per Capita
71st – Median Air Quality Index
66th – Annual Excess Fuel Consumed
6th – Walk Score

Philly’s made major progress in sustainability over the past eight years, so we’d bet that our ranking should be higher due to initiatives like Green City Clean Waters and Greenworks. We just can’t see specifics, Wallethub…

So who DID lead the pack? Shocker, the stereotypical San Fran got the honor.

THE TOP 10 LIST WAS AS FOLLOWS:

1. San Francisco, CA
   2. Honolulu, HI
   3. San Jose, CA
   4. Fremont, CA
   5. San Diego, CA
   6. Washington, DC
   7. Oakland, CA
   8. Portland, OR
   9. Sacramento
   10. Minneapolis, MN

Does this study matter?

Wallethub does look at outside resources (ranging from legit US census bureau to eh? Yelp). However, we can’t see exactly how Philadelphia fared on every single ranking, and our transportation score at 5 seems low with our bike share program, bike lanes and other improvements in recent years.

According to Wallethub, “to determine the greenest cities in America, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 100 most populated cities across four key dimensions: 1) Environment, 2) Transportation, 3) Energy Sources and 4) Lifestyle & Policy.“

A sampling of the rankings and weight:

• Greenhouse-Gas Emissions per Capita: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
• Green Space: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
• Percentage of Commuters Who Drive: Double Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Walk Score: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Bike Score: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Annual Excess Fuel Consumption: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Community Garden Plots per Capita: Full Weight (~3.75 Points)
• “Green” Job Opportunities: Full Weight (~3.75 Points)

It’s worth noting that Wallethub defines itself as “the first-ever website to offer free credit scores and full credit reports that are updated on a daily basis.”

Photo Credit: Photo by C. Smyth for VISIT PHILADELPHIA®

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher