In a Sustainability Competition, San Jose Knows the Way

If one had to guess what state leads the way on sustainability, meaning its cities scored high in environment, transportation, energy sources and lifestyle categories, it probably wouldn’t be a surprise to find out that the winner is California.

Indeed, a recent WalletHub study found that five of the top 15 most sustainable cities were in the Golden State, with San Jose topping the list, with Oakland, Irvine and San Francisco 3, 4 and 5. Washington, D.C. took second place.

In order to determine the greenest cities in America, WalletHub compared the 100 most populated cities across four key dimensions: 1) Environment, 2) Transportation, 3) Energy Sources and 4) Lifestyle & Policy, evaluating those dimensions using 28 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the greenest practices and policies.

Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst, explained that “There are plenty of things that individuals can do to adopt a green lifestyle, from recycling to sharing rides to installing solar panels on their homes. However, living in one of the greenest cities can make it even easier to care for the environment, due to sustainable laws and policies, access to locally-grown produce and infrastructure that allows residents to use vehicles less often. The greenest cities also are better for your health due to superior air and water quality.”

Rounding out the top 10 are Honolulu, San Diego, Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle.

The cost of living in each of the 10 cities varied widely, with San Jose at $96,000 and Minneapolis at $48,000.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in most of the sustainable cities, families would need to make at least double the median household income to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home.

A report from zoocasa.com included that for those seeking to live sustainably, high rankings can’t be the only consideration. What is environmentally sustainable may not always be financially workable for them, so prospective residents must know their finances to see which areas they can afford.