Honolulu ranks No. 1 in survey of clean cities

The international consulting firm Mercer ranked Honolulu No. 1 in sanitation in a recent survey analyzing more than 450 cities worldwide.

The sanitation ranking is based on analyses of cities’ waste removal and sewage infrastructure, levels of infectious disease, air pollution, water availability and quality, according to the company.

Besides being ranked No. 1 in sanitation, Honolulu ranked No. 36 in overall quality of living worldwide and No. 3 among all U.S. cities. Vienna took the top spot globally for quality of living for the ninth year in a row.

“Those of us that live in Honolulu know what a beautiful place it is, and it’s always encouraging to know that the rest of the world is paying attention,” Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Thursday in a news release. “This kind of recognition is a credit to the hard working city employees who take care of our sewers and water treatment facilities, and even residents that go out of their way to pick up trash off our city streets.”

The quality-of-living rankings analyzed 10 categories, including political and social environment, medical and health considerations, schools and education, housing, recreation and record of natural environment, which includes climate and natural disasters.

Mercer’s annual survey is used to enable multinational companies and other organizations to compensate employees fairly when placed on international assignments, the company said. This year Mercer provided a separate ranking on city sanitation.