Which Is the Cleaner City: Billings or Missoula?

Did you grow up learning not to litter?

I remember class field trips dedicated to picking up trash and wondering if I threw an apple out the backseat car window did it count as littering or would it decay and be considered compost?

Now, whenever I visit a new city I find myself commenting on how clean it is. Were there wrappers and broken bottles in the streets? Was there air pollution? Was there public trash bins?

How Clean Are Montana's Biggest Cities? 

Two Montana cities showed up in a study of the "Dirtiest Cities in America" put together by Lawnstarter.com. They ranked 300 U.S. cities on four categories: "air pollution, water quality, waste management, and resident dissatisfaction."

Considering waste management and air quality alone, I could see why Billings might rank higher than Missoula. One of the most impressive aspects of Billings' waste management is the fact that the city's garbage trucks run on natural gas collected from the landfill. It's a really innovative system and I remember when I learned about it, I assumed it was the kind of thing that Missoula's landfill was already doing, but it wasn't.

As for air quality, topography is a pretty obvious reason why Billings' air might be cleaner than Missoula's. Though Billings is in a very shallow valley, the inversion that happens in Missoula is much worse.

In any case, here's what the study said:

• Billings ranked better than Missoula for pollution.
• Missoula ranked better than Billings for living conditions.
• Missoula ranked better than Billings for infrastructure.
• Missoula ranked better than Billings for resident dissatisfaction.

Overall, neither city was the dirtiest or the cleanest compared to other cities around the country. With a ranking of 1 being the dirtiest city, Billings ranked 189 overall and Missoula ranked 204 overall.