New York ranked 2nd greenest state in U.S.

NEW YORK (WWTI) — With Earth Day almost a week away, a recent study examined which states are considered the “greenest.”

The person-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2021’s Greenest States on Wednesday, showcasing which states are “doing right by Mother Earth.” The study compared the 50 states over 25 key metrics with data sets ranging from green buildings per capita, share of energy consumption and renewable resources.

According to the study, New York is the second greenest state in the country. The study also determined that Vermont is the overall greenest state and West Virginia is the least green compared to all others.

Factors that contributed to New York’s high rankings including it having the lowest gasoline consumption in gallons, per capita, and the second lowest energy consumption per capita. Other rankings determined by the study include:

Air Quality: 10th highest
Soil Quality: 7th highest
Water Quality 17th highest
LEED- Certified Buildings per Capita: 13th highest
Percent of Renewable Energy Consumption: 19th highest

Full rankings of all 50 states are outlined below:

Source: WalletHub

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Environmental Quality	Eco-Friendly Behaviors	Climate-Change Contributions
1	Vermont	76.66	1	1	32
2	New York	75.93	4	8	5
3	Massachusetts	74.08	3	15	2
4	Maryland	73.51	7	5	8
5	California	72.90	28	3	3
6	Oregon	72.31	9	2	26
7	Minnesota	71.96	5	7	19
8	Hawaii	71.52	2	16	13
9	Connecticut	69.64	11	12	1
10	Washington	68.45	6	6	23
11	Rhode Island	67.32	12	22	6
12	Maine	67.08	13	4	20
13	Nevada	66.66	25	11	9
14	South Dakota	66.61	10	19	12
15	New Hampshire	65.86	8	37	4
16	Wisconsin	65.62	24	10	14
17	Colorado	64.20	18	9	25
18	Michigan	62.88	14	26	17
19	Virginia	62.10	20	24	18
20	Pennsylvania	61.30	19	13	28
21	Delaware	60.99	32	27	11
22	New Jersey	59.72	44	18	7
23	Illinois	59.34	26	20	27
24	North Carolina	58.79	30	23	24
25	Idaho	58.75	40	32	10
26	Utah	57.70	22	21	36
27	South Carolina	57.44	27	39	16
28	Montana	56.91	34	17	35
29	Nebraska	56.48	15	38	30
30	Iowa	56.47	17	14	42
31	Ohio	55.42	37	34	22
32	Missouri	54.43	23	33	37
33	Georgia	54.02	31	42	21
34	Tennessee	53.24	35	44	15
35	Kansas	51.35	33	29	41
36	New Mexico	50.59	46	25	33
37	Arkansas	50.18	16	46	34
38	Arizona	50.08	47	28	29
39	Texas	49.71	43	30	38
40	Alaska	49.67	42	40	31
41	Indiana	49.62	36	35	40
42	Florida	49.45	29	43	39
43	North Dakota	46.24	21	31	48
44	Oklahoma	43.89	45	36	43
45	Wyoming	40.92	38	41	46
46	Kentucky	38.17	39	48	45
47	Alabama	36.01	41	45	47
48	Mississippi	34.70	49	49	44
49	Louisiana	26.34	48	50	49
50	West Virginia	18.77	50	47	50