Cavan town remains moderately littered, while Monaghan has regained its clean status.
The first post-lockdown survey by Irish Business Against Litter shows overall 68 per cent of towns showed an improvement on last year.
Of the 40 areas monitored nationwide, Monaghan ranked 20th and Cavan 26th.
The report said there had been a "credible improvement" at the majority of locations in Monaghan town, which was let down by dumping in The Diamond Centre.
Cavan "improved marginally", but not enough to regain the clean status that it lost last year.
The steps from James Connolly Street to Fairgreen Hill and the laneway from Main Street to Tesco Carpark impacted the overall scores.
Portloaise is the cleanest town, while Dublin's North Inner City is a litter blackspot.
