Most Green Places

Smaller City Rankings

1 Burlington-South Burlington, VT

2 Ithaca, NY

3 Corvallis, OR

4 Springfield, MA

5 Wenatchee, WA

6 Charlottesville, VA

7 Boulder, CO

8 Madison, WI

9 Binghamton, NY

10 Champaign-Urbana, IL

11 Ann Arbor, MI

12 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA

13 La Crosse, WI-MN

14 Pittsfield, MA

15 Eau Claire, WI

16 Durham, NC

17 Norwich-New London, CT

18 Eugene-Springfield, OR

19 San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA

20 Chico, CA

21 Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA

22 Barnstable Town, MA

23 Utica-Rome, NY

24 Missoula, MT

25 Asheville, NC

The Best Green Places study, which is based on data discovered by Sperling's BestPlaces, examines 24 data metrics in 5 major categories -- including air and watershed quality, mass transit usage, power usage, farmers markets, organic producers, and number of green-certified buildings -- to determine which metro areas are the best places to live a green life.

Sperling's BestPlaces ranked the 379 major metropolitan areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Over 80 percent of all U.S. residents live in these 379 metro areas. Data was collected from sources which include the Census Source: Sperling's Places Rated