Environmental Rankings
States ranked by pollution, hazardous waste, and water quality metrics. All data from the EPA Toxics Release Inventory, Superfund program, and Safe Drinking Water Information System.
Most TRI Facilities
States with the most Toxics Release Inventory reporting facilities, industrial pollution hotspots.
- 1 Texas 2,342
- 2 Ohio 1,546
- 3 California 1,426
- 4 Pennsylvania 1,241
- 5 Illinois 1,145
Most Toxic Chemical Releases
States with the highest total pounds of toxic chemicals released into the environment.
Most Superfund Sites
States with the most EPA National Priorities List hazardous waste sites.
- 1 New Jersey 153
- 2 Pennsylvania 127
- 3 New York 122
- 4 California 116
- 5 Michigan 90
Most Water Violations
States with the highest number of Safe Drinking Water Act violations.
- 1 Texas 33,822
- 2 Oklahoma 28,341
- 3 California 17,550
- 4 Louisiana 13,618
- 5 New Mexico 7,529
Fewest Water Violations
States with the cleanest drinking water records, fewest SDWA violations.
- 1 Guam 6
- 2 U.S. Virgin Islands 18
- 3 Hawaii 29
- 4 District of Columbia 51
- 5 Delaware 158
Most Water Systems
States with the largest number of public water systems serving their populations.
- 1 Texas 4,587
- 2 California 3,077
- 3 Washington 2,397
- 4 New York 2,201
- 5 North Carolina 1,965
Every figure on PlainEnviro is rendered directly from EPA environmental compliance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from EPA data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.