America’s 20 Dirtiest Beaches

This bar chart ranks the 20 U.S. beaches with the lowest overall Skin Health Score in HubMedEd’s 2025 Brown Flag Report. Galveston Beach in Texas ranks as the dirtiest, followed by Port Aransas and Rockport Beach. The ranking is based on bacterial advisories, water quality, UV exposure, and state-level skin health risk. Darker bars indicate higher risk.
This chart ranks the top 20 U.S. beaches with the lowest overall Skin Health Score in HubMedEd’s 2025 Brown Flag Report. Rankings are based on four weighted factors: bacterial advisories, water quality, UV exposure, and state-level skin health risk.

Darker bars reflect higher risk conditions, while lighter bars indicate beaches with fewer—but still notable—health concerns for swimmers.
Source: HubMedEd, using data from EPA BEACON, National Weather Service, and CDC Get the data Embed Download image Created with Datawrapper