Maryland ranks as the 5th most environmentally friendly state in a “2023’s Greenest States” WalletHub report released Wednesday in honor of Earth Day.
The finance website ranks New York (#2), California (#3), Hawaii (#4), and Maryland (#5) in the top five most environmentally friendly states. The number one state on the list is Vermont.
According to WalletHub, environmentally friendliness results from a number of key aspects including quality of the environment (air, water, and soil), eco-friendly behaviors (number green building per person, solar capacity, and energy consumption), and amount of environmentally harmful emissions (carbon-dioxide, ethane, and nitrous-oxide emissions per capita).
A weighted score was calculated for each of the three key areas. The states were then ranked based on their total weighted score.
Maryland ranked seventh for environmental quality, 4th for eco-friendly behaviors, and 7th for climate-changing emissions. Maryland received an overall score of 74.70.
WalletHub also reported the following rankings on the “greenness” of Maryland, with 1 being the greenest and 25 being average:
- 1st – Water Quality
- 2nd – LEED-Certified Buildings per Capita
- 9th – Energy Consumption per Capita
- 13th – Air Quality
- 14th – Gasoline Consumption (in Gallons) per Capita
- 20th – Soil Quality
Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, United Health Foundation, International Plant Nutrition Institute, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Green Building Council, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Department of Energy, United States Department of Agriculture, Information Technology Industry Council, National Conference of State Legislatures, Environmental Finance Blog, Alliance for Water Efficiency, Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Information Administration and U.S. Geological Survey.
For more information on this study, read the “2023’s Greenest States” report.
