Which U.S. Cities Produce the Most Emissions Per Resident?
Some cities create far more pollution than others. As with national and corporate rankings, the picture depends on how you measure it. By nation, China sits at the top by a wide margin, according to EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research). Adjusted for population, the top of the list is dominated by small oil-producing nations, especially Qatar and Kuwait, because their emissions come from the oil they produce and export, not from what their residents use.
Among companies, the largest emitter is Saudi Aramco, the state oil giant. Exxon and Chevron are also near the top.
We applied the same approach to cities, ranking them by emissions per resident rather than in total. Otherwise, the list would skew toward the most populous cities. Houston, the de facto oil capital of America, would likely rank first on a total emissions list.
We drew primarily on two sources. The first is Climate TRACE, a publicly available dataset whose most recent edition tracks 2024 emissions across 260 urban areas. The organization describes itself as “a non-profit coalition of organizations building a timely, open, and accessible inventory of exactly where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from.” For population, we used U.S. Census data for American cities and towns.
Our per-person figure is total emissions divided by population; multiplying by 1,000 gives tons per 1,000 residents. The U.S. average is approximately 18 tons per person. At the top of our list, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, reaches 103.8.
The top of the list is dominated by cities with refineries. Beaumont-Port Arthur has four huge refineries that together account for just over 17.5 million tons: Motiva Port Arthur (6.1 million tons), ExxonMobil Beaumont (5.8 million), Valero Port Arthur (3.6 million), and TotalEnergies Port Arthur (2.0 million). The Motiva facility is the largest refinery in the U.S. More broadly, the Gulf of Mexico region is home to some of the country’s largest refineries.
Two caveats are important. First, cities are ranked by the pollution produced within them, not where their products are ultimately used. Second, Census city boundaries may not exactly match those used by Climate TRACE.
Highest emitters per person, any size (2024, tons of CO2-equivalent)
| Rank | Metro | Tons per person | Tons per 1,000 residents | Total (million tons) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas | 103.8 | 103,800 | 41.4 |
| 2 | Lake Charles, La. | 79.6 | 79,600 | 19.3 |
| 3 | Corpus Christi, Texas | 54.4 | 54,400 | 24.5 |
| 4 | Owensboro, Ky. | 53.6 | 53,600 | 6.1 |
| 5 | New Orleans | 46.8 | 46,800 | 45.2 |
| 6 | Baton Rouge, La. | 37.6 | 37,600 | 33.2 |
| 7 | Anchorage, Alaska | 29.9 | 29,900 | 12.2 |
| 8 | Pensacola, Fla. | 29.3 | 29,300 | 15.8 |
| 9 | Janesville-Beloit, Wis. | 27.9 | 27,900 | 4.6 |
| 10 | Saginaw, Mich. | 27.7 | 27,700 | 5.2 |
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