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States with the Most TRI Facilities

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All states ranked by number of Toxics Release Inventory reporting facilities, industrial pollution sources tracked by the EPA.

What This Ranking Tells Us

The Toxics Release Inventory tracks facilities that release toxic chemicals into the environment. States with more TRI facilities have greater concentrations of industrial activity, manufacturing, mining, chemical production, and energy generation. A high facility count does not necessarily mean worse environmental quality, as TRI reporting covers facilities above certain thresholds regardless of release volume. However, more facilities generally correlate with more potential exposure pathways for nearby communities.

This page ranks all 50 U.S. states and territories on a single indicator - facilities - drawn directly from the EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The ranking draws on 51 state records in the current dataset, ordered descending (highest count at the top) by the underlying federal count.

The top of the table is led by Texas with a reported value of 2,342, followed by Ohio (1,546) and California (1,426). The bottom of the ranking ends with Hawaii at 38, illustrating the spread across the federal record.

A state's position depends on underlying geography, industrial history, population, and the density of reporting entities, not on a simple "cleaner" or "dirtier" label. Use the links in the table to open each state's full environmental profile and view county-level breakdowns, individual facility records, and violation history. Data source: EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). All figures are as-filed and not weighted for toxicity or exposure.

States with the Most TRI Facilities: top 15

Ranked by facilities - full table below

facilities

What this shows Rankings reflect reported federal totals, shaped by each state's geography, industrial history and population, not a direct measure of health risk or water safety.

Source EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) As of 2023
#1 Texas 2,342 facilities #2 Ohio 1,546 facilities #3 California 1,426 facilities
# State Facilities
1 Texas TX 2,342
2 Ohio OH 1,546
3 California CA 1,426
4 Pennsylvania PA 1,241
5 Illinois IL 1,145
6 Indiana IN 1,028
7 Wisconsin WI 991
8 North Carolina NC 924
9 Michigan MI 918
10 Georgia GA 867
11 Florida FL 864
12 Tennessee TN 740
13 New York NY 688
14 Alabama AL 661
15 South Carolina SC 660
16 Missouri MO 621
17 Minnesota MN 592
18 Iowa IA 546
19 Virginia VA 512
20 Kentucky KY 489
21 Oklahoma OK 485
22 Louisiana LA 467
23 Massachusetts MA 450
24 Arkansas AR 428
25 New Jersey NJ 404
26 Kansas KS 403
27 Mississippi MS 383
28 Washington WA 367
29 Arizona AZ 355
30 Oregon OR 335
31 Colorado CO 316
32 Connecticut CT 306
33 Utah UT 246
34 Nebraska NE 233
35 West Virginia WV 207
36 Maryland MD 206
37 Nevada NV 186
38 New Hampshire NH 145
39 Idaho ID 135
40 South Dakota SD 124
41 Puerto Rico PR 121
42 New Mexico NM 111
43 North Dakota ND 104
44 Maine ME 95
45 Rhode Island RI 91
46 Montana MT 79
47 Wyoming WY 78
48 Delaware DE 64
49 Alaska AK 57
50 Vermont VT 43
51 Hawaii HI 38

Source: EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Toxics Release Inventory?

The TRI is an EPA program that requires certain industrial facilities to report annually on their releases and waste management of over 770 toxic chemicals. It was created by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) in 1986. Facilities must report if they manufacture, process, or otherwise use listed chemicals above threshold quantities.

Does more TRI facilities mean more pollution?

Not necessarily. The TRI count reflects the number of reporting facilities, not total pollution volume. Some states have many small facilities with minimal releases, while others have fewer facilities with very large releases. The "Most Toxic Releases" ranking better reflects actual pollution volume.

Which industries are covered by TRI?

TRI covers manufacturing, metal and coal mining, electric utilities, chemical manufacturers, and certain federal facilities. Service industries, agriculture, and most small businesses are generally exempt from TRI reporting requirements.

Explore More Rankings

Most Toxic Releases Most Superfund Sites Most Water Violations Fewest Water Violations Most Water Systems
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Environmental data by state
Facilities
TRI reporting facilities
Superfund Sites
EPA hazardous waste sites

What to do with this ranking

Use the leaders here as a starting point, then check your own state's full record.

  • Texas tops this list at 2,342 facilities - see its full environmental profile, not just this one metric. View Texas
  • This single indicator doesn't capture the full picture. Compare against most toxic releases for a different angle. Most Toxic Releases
  • Look up any state directly to see its complete facility, water, and Superfund record in one place. Browse all states

Rankings reflect reported federal data for a single indicator; a high or low rank does not by itself measure overall environmental quality or health risk.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this ranking is drawn from PlainEnviro's database of more than 25,000 EPA-tracked facilities and thousands of Safe Drinking Water Information System and Superfund National Priorities List records compiled since federal reporting began under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act in October 1986; see our methodology for the full data-source citations and refresh cadence.

Related

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Data sourced from U.S. EPA environmental datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainEnviro Editorial

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.