Which metros have the most leaves to clean up?

Lawnstarter -   You think  haveyou a lot of leaves to mulch mow or clean up? Charleston, West Virginia, has the heaviest fall leaf burden of any U.S. metro we measured. Yes, even more than Atlanta, the City in a Forest, or Charlotte, the City of Trees. 

LawnStarter's Leaf Burden Index scored 383 metropolitan areas on how much deciduous forest surrounds them and how much yard-and-housing exposure they have, then estimated when leaf cleanup peaks in each.

The index measures leaf burden, not the total number of leaves. That is why smaller, heavily wooded metros can outrank much larger cities. 

The South and Northeast dominate. The South has 16 of the 25 most leaf-burdened metros and the Northeast has nine. No Midwestern or Western metro makes the top 25.

Big metros rank mid-table or low. Among the 10 most populous metros, Atlanta ranks highest (No. 52), New York is No. 168 and Phoenix is No. 375.

Few people live in the heaviest-burdened metros. The top 25 hold 9.4 million of the 293.8 million people in the 383 metros scored (3.2%).

...Leaves piling up on your lawn can smother your grass, but you may not need to rake them. Mulch mowing sends nutrients back into the lawn. Composting leaves or using them to insulate your flower beds and around tree roots are other options.