This study ranked the dirtiest cities in America. Here’s where Miami ended up

When it comes to being a filthy city, Miami could be filthier.

This is to say: We are not super clean. But we are far from the dirtiest of all the slag heaps in the land.

We know that’s hard to believe if you have had to vault over piles of human feces while walking downtown or dodge garbage flung out the window while driving on any of the city’s beautiful motorways. But a recent study from Lawnstarter says there are quite a few places dirtier than Miami.

The lawn care startup examined 87 cities in the U.S., evaluating them across metrics like pollution levels, living conditions (including how many homes have spotted cockroaches in the past 12 months, a stat sure to doom all of Florida) and infrastructure conditions (number of landfills and junk yards and how many roads are in poor condition). The analysts also examined consumer satisfaction with the cleanliness of each city.

Out of 87 cities, Miami landed almost squarely in the middle at No. 43, with a relatively low pollution level (thank you, ocean breezes) making up for a relatively low score for living conditions.

But it could be worse. Orlando came in at No. 34, with Tampa at 38. Both places also landed on the top five list for cities with the highest amount of roach activity. Gross! St. Petersburg was No. 1, the roach epicenter of America. I don’t know what’s going on over there on the west coast, but could somebody please send Pinellas County the phone number for Orkin and some chancletas.

The dirtiest city in the study will come as a surprise only to people new to this planet: Newark, New Jersey, which was followed by Houston; Los Angeles; San Bernadino, California; Oklahoma City; San Antonio; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Glendale, California; and Chicago.

The cleanest city in the study was Norfolk, Virginia.