The Greenest States in America, Ranked

Which states are doing their part to save the environment and which ones need to shape up? Financial advisory website WalletHub decided to crunch the numbers and find out. The result is the interactive map below, which ranks the greenest states in America based on 23 metrics across three categories: environmental quality, eco-friendly behaviors (which are, of course, tied to spending), and climate change contributions. Some of the metrics include carbon dioxide emissions and gasoline consumption per capita.

Source: WalletHub

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the greenest state based on overall rank is Vermont, which lived up to the "green" in its Green Mountain State nickname, with a score of 75.48. Oregon comes in at number two (74.23) with Massachusetts holding third place (72.63). Coming in last place, with a score of only 25.08, is West Virginia. So, what's separating the green states and the not-so-green states? Recycling.

One of the most dramatic differences between the two groups is percentage of recycled municipal waste (Maine scored highest in this area, while Louisiana came in last). Air quality was yet another big factor, with Wyoming coming out on top and California in last place (though it ranked number 9 overall, so they're clearly doing lots of other things right). Soil quality, most LEED-certified buildings, and energy and gasoline consumption were also among the factors considered.

So just where did your state land in the overall list? See below for the full ranking, and visit WalletHub to find further insights on how the list was calculated.

50. West Virginia
49. Louisiana
48. Kentucky
47. North Dakota
46. Alabama
45. Wyoming
44. Oklahoma
43. Texas
42. Indiana
41. Arkansas
40. Mississippi
39. Utah
38. Kansas
37. Ohio
36. Alaska
35. Virginia
34. Florida
33. Montana
32. Nebraska
31. Iowa
30. New Mexico
29. South Carolina
28. Arizona
27. Missouri
26. Illinois
25. Pennsylvania
24. Georgia
23. Tennessee
22. North Carolina
21. Colorado
20. Michigan
19. Delaware
18. Maryland
17. Washington
16. Hawaii
15. Idaho
14. Wisconsin
13. New Jersey
12. Nevada
11. Maine
10. Rhode Island
9. California
8. New Hampshire
7. Connecticut
6. Minnesota
5. South Dakota
4. New York
3. Massachusetts
2. Oregon
1. Vermont

[h/t WalletHub]