Cleanest Air Right Now by City, Minneapolis, Minnesota Leads (2026)

Name: Cleanest air right now by city, The Honest Local
Creator: The Honest Local
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Minneapolis, Minnesota has the cleanest air right now of the 105 US cities we rank, with an AQI of 8 (AirNow, Nov 4, 2026). Madison, Wisconsin is next, with an AQI of 9.

By The Honest Local · 105 cities · every value links to its public source

8Minneapolis, Minnesota leads on the list, the lowest reading of 105 citiesThe air quality index at this moment, straight from the tape.

The top five cities AQI right now

No. 1Minneapolis, Minnesota8AQI right now
No. 2Madison, Wisconsin9AQI right now
No. 3Des Moines, Iowa11AQI right now
No. 4Milwaukee, Wisconsin14AQI right now
No. 5Asheville, North Carolina16AQI right now

Cleanest Air Right Now by City on the map

Air Right Now, cities hover for the numbers, click for every one

Loading the numbers…

How the air is right now, cleanest first.

Cleanest Air Right Now by City, all 105

The full ranking AQI right now

	Place	AQI right now
1	Minneapolis, Minnesotabig city	8
2	Madison, Wisconsinbig city	9
3	Des Moines, Iowa	11
4	Milwaukee, Wisconsinbig city	14
5	Asheville, North Carolina	16
5	Birmingham, Alabama	16
5	Chicago, Illinoisbig city	16
8	Huntsville, Alabama	18
8	Memphis, Tennesseebig city	18
8	Oxnard, California	18
11	Kansas City, Missouribig city	19
11	St. Louis, Missouribig city	19
13	Nashville, Tennesseebig city	20
14	Akron, Ohio	24
14	Dayton, Ohio	24
14	Indianapolis, Indianabig city	24
14	Toledo, Ohiobig city	24
18	Columbus, Ohiobig city	25
19	Chattanooga, Tennessee	26
19	Louisville, Kentuckybig city	26
19	Omaha, Nebraskabig city	26
19	San Francisco, Californiabig city	26
23	Cincinnati, Ohiobig city	27
24	Honolulu, Hawaiibig city	28
24	Little Rock, Arkansas	28
26	Atlanta, Georgiabig city	29
26	Fayetteville, Arkansas	29
26	Jackson, Mississippi	29
29	Ogden, Utah	30
30	Columbia, South Carolina	32
30	Detroit, Michiganbig city	32
30	Savannah, Georgia	32
33	Augusta, Georgia	33
33	Cape Coral, Florida	33
35	Bridgeport, Connecticut	34
35	Richmond, Virginia	34
35	Tulsa, Oklahomabig city	34
38	Austin, Texasbig city	35
38	Baltimore, Marylandbig city	35
38	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	35
38	Knoxville, Tennessee	35
42	Lakeland, Florida	36
42	Provo, Utah	36
42	Virginia Beach, Virginiabig city	36
45	Albuquerque, New Mexicobig city	37
45	Charleston, South Carolina	37
45	Colorado Springs, Coloradobig city	37
45	Daytona Beach, Florida	37
45	McAllen, Texas	37
45	Miami, Floridabig city	37
45	New Orleans, Louisianabig city	37
45	Oklahoma City, Oklahomabig city	37
45	Sarasota, Florida	37
54	Denver, Coloradobig city	38
54	Grand Rapids, Michigan	38
54	Greenville, South Carolina	38
54	Melbourne, Florida	38
54	San Jose, Californiabig city	38
59	Dallas, Texasbig city	39
59	Raleigh, North Carolinabig city	39
61	Boston, Massachusettsbig city	40
61	Jacksonville, Floridabig city	40
61	Reno, Nevadabig city	40
64	New Haven, Connecticut	41
64	Poughkeepsie, New York	41
64	San Antonio, Texasbig city	41
67	Durham, North Carolinabig city	42
67	Greensboro, North Carolinabig city	42
67	Hartford, Connecticut	42
67	Las Vegas, Nevadabig city	42
67	Orlando, Floridabig city	42
67	San Diego, Californiabig city	42
67	Tampa, Floridabig city	42
67	Washington, DCbig city	42
67	Winston-Salem, North Carolinabig city	42
76	Stockton, Californiabig city	43
77	Albany, New York	44
77	Boise, Idaho	44
77	Los Angeles, Californiabig city	44
77	Providence, Rhode Island	44
77	Syracuse, New York	44
77	Worcester, Massachusetts	44
83	Buffalo, New Yorkbig city	46
83	Charlotte, North Carolinabig city	46
83	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniabig city	46
86	Tucson, Arizonabig city	47
87	Allentown, Pennsylvania	49
87	Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniabig city	49
87	Portland, Maine	49
87	Sacramento, Californiabig city	49
91	Salt Lake City, Utah	50
92	Bakersfield, Californiabig city	51
92	Houston, Texasbig city	51
94	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	53
94	Wichita, Kansasbig city	53
96	New York, New Yorkbig city	54
97	Cleveland, Ohiobig city	55
98	Fresno, Californiabig city	57
99	Riverside, Californiabig city	58
100	Phoenix, Arizonabig city	60
101	El Paso, Texasbig city	62
102	Seattle, Washingtonbig city	67
103	Vancouver, Washington	70
104	Spokane, Washington	72
105	Portland, Oregonbig city	76

Sources and method

AirNow · 11/04/26

How we got this. Right now air is the EPA's Air Quality Index for each city's reporting area, from AirNow's public feed, refreshed every hour. Cities rank from cleanest to dirtiest at this moment. There's no state list here, since a whole state's current air isn't one honest number and we won't invent one. It refreshes every hour.

Rankings by The Honest Local from public data, one page per list, refreshed on each source’s own cycle. Places with no reading are left out rather than estimated. Every value on this page carries its source in the page’s structured data.

Photos Shutterstock · More Than Just Parks · Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.