2014's Greenest Cities and States

The 2014 U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index from research firm Clean Edge tracks clean tech progress by state, and in the 50 largest metro areas.

STATE INDEX
The report's state index identifies the top markets and states for clean tech by comparing 70+ indicators in three main categories: Technology, Policy, and Capital.

Clean-energy generation, energy storage installations, green building deployment, energy efficiency expenditures, VC investments, and clean-energy patents data are among the many metrics identified in each state to create the conclusive ranking.

Hovering over the interactive map above displays the Clean Tech Index score for every state, but here's a cheat sheet for the top 10:

1. California: 93.7
2. Massachusetts: 79.4
3. Oregon: 67.0
4. Colorado: 66.8
5. New York: 64.8
6. New Mexico: 61.9
7. Washington: 61.6
8. Illinois: 61.5
9. Vermont: 58.6
10. Connecticut: 57.3

CITY INDEX

To determine the top cities, Clean Edge tracks 20 indicators within the categories of: Green Buildings, Advanced Transportation, Clean Electricity & Carbon Management, and Clean Tech Investment & Innovation in the 50 largest U.S. metros.

Each circle in the interactive represents the Clean Tech Index score for a city, but here's your cheat sheet for the top metros (five of the top 10 are located in California):

1. San Francisco, California: 94.4 2. San Jose, California: 79.7
3. San Diego, California: 66.3
4. Portland, Oregon: 62.9
5. Sacramento, California: 61.0
6. Boston, Massachusetts: 56.2
7. Los Angeles, California: 56.0
8. Washington, D.C.: 53.6
9. Austin, Texas: 51.3
10. Denver, Colorado: 49.7

For in-depth analysis, and to compare data from the past three years, download the full U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index report.