We love the natural beauty and geographical diversity of New York state. But we know there an unsanitary underbelly to the state as well. it's that other side they don't want you to know about, and we're not just talking about some of the politicians. A study ranked the nation's grossest states, and unfortunately New York didn't do so well.

One bit of good news is that we didn't go up in "gross-factor" points from 2021. However, we didn't get any better.

America's Grossest States? 

A website called Zippia put together a list of America's 'grossest' states. How did they come up with these numbers? Zippia took data from the dirtiness of each state's air, trash, the percentage of each state that's landfills, and the spread of illness.

According to the study, Virginia is the dirtiest state in the country. South Carolina was 2nd, and neighboring Pennsylvania was tied for 3rd with North Carolina.

loading...

New York came in 10th, which is where we were last year.

How Did They Get These Numbers? 

Now, if you look at numbers from Air Filters Delivered, you'll see that New York's air is pretty clean compared to the majority of the country. Now, if you use the data collected from the EPA on how much of our land is taken up by landfills, again, we're not that bad (especially compared to places like Pennsylvania and New Jersey).

Cleanest States? 

It should be noted that most of the states towards the least gross side of the spectrum tend to be the most sparsely populated. For example, Alaska again came in last for overall grossness. Montana was 49th, and Nebraska and Idaho were tied for 47th.  and More people produce more trash, and spread more illnesses. Again, please note that this study is not scientific, and there are many other factors that determine the cleanliness of a state or area.

LOOK: Here are the best small towns to live in across America

More From 94.3 Lite FM