Data / Rankings / Greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory) / US states

US states by greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory)

California had the highest greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory) of 51 states in 2016, at 38.69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Hawaii had the lowest, at 1.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The median was 6.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest38.69California
Lowest1.07Hawaii
Median6.1751 states

Map of states, 2016

Alabama: 7.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska: 3.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona: 6.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas: 5.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia: 38.69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado: 7.28 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut: 5.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware: 1.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia: 1.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida: 20.54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia: 12.98 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii: 1.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho: 2.41 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois: 21.48 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana: 10.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa: 5.81 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas: 4.69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky: 6.22 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana: 6.28 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine: 2.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland: 8.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts: 9.45 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan: 18.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota: 8.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi: 4.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri: 7.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana: 2.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska: 3.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada: 3.51 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire: 2.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey: 14.37 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico: 3.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York: 29.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina: 12.74 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota: 1.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio: 18.89 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma: 6.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon: 4.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania: 16.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island: 1.29 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina: 5.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota: 1.26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee: 8.51 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas: 33.29 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah: 4.34 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont: 1.12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia: 12.22 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington: 7.54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia: 2.96 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin: 8.92 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming: 1.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent
  • Under 2.1
  • 2.1 to 3.9
  • 3.9 to 6.2
  • 6.2 to 8.2
  • 8.2 to 14
  • 14 and over
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, 2016. Source: EPA state greenhouse gas inventory, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

California: 38.69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia38.69Texas: 33.29 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas33.29New York: 29.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York29.17Illinois: 21.48 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois21.48Florida: 20.54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida20.54Ohio: 18.89 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio18.89Michigan: 18.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan18.4Pennsylvania: 16.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania16.91New Jersey: 14.37 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey14.37Georgia: 12.98 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia12.98North Carolina: 12.74 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina12.74Virginia: 12.22 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia12.22Indiana: 10.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana10.14Massachusetts: 9.45 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts9.45Wisconsin: 8.92 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin8.92Minnesota: 8.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota8.64Tennessee: 8.51 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee8.51Maryland: 8.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland8.01Washington: 7.54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington7.54Missouri: 7.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri7.49Colorado: 7.28 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado7.28Alabama: 7.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlabama7.03Arizona: 6.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona6.97Louisiana: 6.28 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana6.28Kentucky: 6.22 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky6.22Oklahoma: 6.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma6.17Iowa: 5.81 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa5.81South Carolina: 5.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina5.49Arkansas: 5.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas5.43Connecticut: 5.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut5.01Kansas: 4.69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas4.69Oregon: 4.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon4.46Utah: 4.34 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah4.34Mississippi: 4.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi4.16Nevada: 3.51 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada3.51Nebraska: 3.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska3.46Alaska: 3.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska3.19New Mexico: 3.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico3.13West Virginia: 2.96 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia2.96Idaho: 2.41 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho2.41Montana: 2.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana2.13New Hampshire: 2.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire2.13Maine: 2.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine2.03Delaware: 1.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware1.65North Dakota: 1.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota1.57Wyoming: 1.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming1.49Rhode Island: 1.29 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island1.29South Dakota: 1.26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota1.26District of Columbia: 1.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia1.14Vermont: 1.12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont1.12Hawaii: 1.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii1.07California: 38.69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia38.69Texas: 33.29 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas33.29New York: 29.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York29.17Illinois: 21.48 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois21.48Florida: 20.54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida20.54Ohio: 18.89 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio18.89Michigan: 18.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan18.4Pennsylvania: 16.91 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania16.91New Jersey: 14.37 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey14.37Georgia: 12.98 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia12.98North Carolina: 12.74 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina12.74Virginia: 12.22 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia12.22Indiana: 10.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana10.14Massachusetts: 9.45 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts9.45Wisconsin: 8.92 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin8.92Minnesota: 8.64 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota8.64Tennessee: 8.51 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee8.51Maryland: 8.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland8.01Washington: 7.54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington7.54Missouri: 7.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri7.49Colorado: 7.28 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado7.28Alabama: 7.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlabama7.03Arizona: 6.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona6.97Louisiana: 6.28 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana6.28Kentucky: 6.22 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky6.22Oklahoma: 6.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma6.17Iowa: 5.81 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa5.81South Carolina: 5.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina5.49Arkansas: 5.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas5.43Connecticut: 5.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut5.01Kansas: 4.69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas4.69Oregon: 4.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon4.46Utah: 4.34 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah4.34Mississippi: 4.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi4.16Nevada: 3.51 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada3.51Nebraska: 3.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska3.46Alaska: 3.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska3.19New Mexico: 3.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico3.13West Virginia: 2.96 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia2.96Idaho: 2.41 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho2.41Montana: 2.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana2.13New Hampshire: 2.13 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire2.13Maine: 2.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine2.03Delaware: 1.65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware1.65North Dakota: 1.57 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota1.57Wyoming: 1.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming1.49Rhode Island: 1.29 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island1.29South Dakota: 1.26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota1.26District of Columbia: 1.14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia1.14Vermont: 1.12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont1.12Hawaii: 1.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii1.07
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Source: EPA state greenhouse gas inventory, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2016
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent		Change on 2015
1California38.69-4.4%
2Texas33.29-2.2%
3New York29.17-5.9%
4Illinois21.48-1.9%
5Florida20.54+3.2%
6Ohio18.89-10.8%
7Michigan18.4-5.8%
8Pennsylvania16.91-5.2%
9New Jersey14.37-6.5%
10Georgia12.98-2.4%
11North Carolina12.74+1.8%
12Virginia12.22+5.3%
13Indiana10.14-9%
14Massachusetts9.45-6.5%
15Wisconsin8.92-2%
16Minnesota8.64-3.3%
17Tennessee8.51-4.1%
18Maryland8.01-2.6%
19Washington7.54+2.4%
20Missouri7.49-5.2%
21Colorado7.28-3.2%
22Alabama7.03+0.4%
23Arizona6.97+2%
24Louisiana6.28+2%
25Kentucky6.22-0.4%
26Oklahoma6.17-9%
27Iowa5.81-15.5%
28South Carolina5.49+1.1%
29Arkansas5.43-5.2%
30Connecticut5.01-9.4%
31Kansas4.69-6%
32Oregon4.46-1.7%
33Utah4.34+6.3%
34Mississippi4.16-2.5%
35Nevada3.51+1.4%
36Nebraska3.46-7.2%
37Alaska3.19-13.7%
38New Mexico3.13-1.1%
39West Virginia2.96-2.3%
40Idaho2.41+1.6%
41Montana2.13+4.9%
42New Hampshire2.13-5%
43Maine2.03-10.2%
44Delaware1.65+1.8%
45North Dakota1.57-6.3%
46Wyoming1.49-1.6%
47Rhode Island1.29-10.6%
48South Dakota1.26+0.6%
49District of Columbia1.14-7%
50Vermont1.12-13.6%
51Hawaii1.07-10.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Greenhouse gas emissions of a US state allocated to the commercial buildings and waste economic sector.

More on how it is measured
  • Fuel burned in shops, offices and public buildings, refrigerants, and landfills and wastewater treatment, which EPA allocates to this sector.
  • In million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases weighted by their 100-year global warming potentials (IPCC AR5), from the EPA inventory of US emissions by state, which allocates the national inventory to the states with the same methods for every state.
  • Emissions are counted where they occur, so electricity is counted in the state that generates it, not the state that uses it.

The six economic sectors add up to state_ghg_emissions. EPA says these estimates are not official state data: a state's own inventory can differ because it uses other methods, data or scopes. Each annual edition recalculates the whole series back to 1990.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2025). EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (US states by greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory), 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals

MLA 9

EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, US states by greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory), 2016. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 23 Apr. 2025, https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-ghg-emissions-commercial/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2025. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. US states by greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory), 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-ghg-emissions-commercial/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2025) EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, US states by greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory), 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-ghg-emissions-commercial/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{environmental_us_states_by_greenhouse_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: US states by greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory), 2016}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-ghg-emissions-commercial/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
TI  - EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: US states by greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory), 2016
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/04/23
PB  - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-ghg-emissions-commercial/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-ghg-emissions-commercial/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank US states by greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"state_ghg_emissions_commercial","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=state_ghg_emissions_commercial&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which state has the highest greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory)?

California, with 38.69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2016, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Which state has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings and waste (EPA state inventory)?

Hawaii, with 1.07 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: Commercial economic sector, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings