Budapest named the dirtiest city in the world

Budapest has been ranked the dirtiest capital city on Earth, according to global luggage storage company Radical Storage.

Italy claimed four spots in the top ten dirtiest cities: Rome, Florence, Milan, and Verona. In the U.S., Las Vegas came in third, while New York City ranked only 12th.

How the Rankings Were Determined

Radical Storage analyzed 100 cities from the Euromonitor Top 100 City Destinations Index and reviewed 70,000 Google user reviews from the past year. The study focused on mentions of “clean” and “dirty” to assess urban sanitation.

Cities were assigned cleanliness scores based on the percentage of negative reviews related to street and facility conditions. Cities with fewer than 100 reviews were excluded, and false positives such as “not clean” or “not dirty” were removed. Only English-language reviews were considered.

The Dirtiest Cities in the World

1.  Budapest, Hungary — 37.9% of reviews cited dirt and poor upkeep.

2.  Rome, Italy — 35.7%. The capital struggles with waste management amid a surge in tourists; wild boars are often spotted scavenging in garbage.

3.  Las Vegas, USA — 31%. The city’s 24-hour nightlife and heavy tourist traffic make street cleaning a challenge. TripAdvisor users described it as a “dump” with feces, urine, and drug use on the streets.

4.  Florence, Italy — 29.6%

5.  Paris, France — 28.2%

6.  Milan, Italy — 26.8%

7.  Verona, Italy — 26.2%

8.  Frankfurt, Germany — 24.6%

9.  Brussels, Belgium — 24.4%

10.  Cairo, Egypt — 23.6%

The Cleanest Cities in the World

For travelers seeking spotless streets, Radical Storage also released a list of the cleanest cities:

1.  Krakow, Poland — 98.5% positive reviews

2.  Sharjah, UAE — 98%

3.  Singapore — 97.9%

4.  Warsaw, Poland — 97.8%

5.  Doha, Qatar — 97.4%

6.  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — 96.9%

7.  Prague, Czech Republic — 96.4%

8.  Muscat, Oman — 96.4%

9.  Dubai, UAE — 96.3%

10.  Fukuoka, Japan — 96.3%

The study highlights that tourists are increasingly paying attention to urban cleanliness, and local authorities should consider this in managing visitor flows and street maintenance.