2 Cities Tie for the Cleanest Air Right Now of the 105 We Rank (2026)

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

Asheville, North Carolina and Raleigh and North Carolina tie for the cleanest air right now of the 105 US cities we rank, each with an AQI of 16 (AirNow, Oct 4, 2026).

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

16Asheville, North Carolina and Raleigh, North Carolina tie 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. 1Asheville, North Carolina16AQI right now
No. 1Raleigh, North Carolina16AQI right now
No. 3Honolulu, Hawaii18AQI right now
No. 3Melbourne, Florida18AQI right now
No. 5Baton Rouge, Louisiana19AQI 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	Asheville, North Carolina	16
1	Raleigh, North Carolinabig city	16
3	Honolulu, Hawaiibig city	18
3	Melbourne, Florida	18
5	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	19
5	Daytona Beach, Florida	19
5	Greensboro, North Carolinabig city	19
5	Greenville, South Carolina	19
5	Winston-Salem, North Carolinabig city	19
10	Charlotte, North Carolinabig city	20
11	Poughkeepsie, New York	21
11	Richmond, Virginia	21
13	Albany, New York	22
13	Cape Coral, Florida	22
13	Durham, North Carolinabig city	22
13	Orlando, Floridabig city	22
13	Portland, Maine	22
18	Austin, Texasbig city	23
18	Lakeland, Florida	23
18	Savannah, Georgia	23
21	Baltimore, Marylandbig city	24
21	New Orleans, Louisianabig city	24
21	Washington, DCbig city	24
24	Jacksonville, Floridabig city	25
25	Augusta, Georgia	26
25	Birmingham, Alabama	26
25	San Antonio, Texasbig city	26
25	Sarasota, Florida	26
29	Bridgeport, Connecticut	27
29	Syracuse, New York	27
29	Virginia Beach, Virginiabig city	27
32	Charleston, South Carolina	28
33	Allentown, Pennsylvania	29
33	Columbia, South Carolina	29
33	Huntsville, Alabama	29
33	Knoxville, Tennessee	29
37	Boston, Massachusettsbig city	30
37	Hartford, Connecticut	30
37	New Haven, Connecticut	30
37	Tampa, Floridabig city	30
41	Worcester, Massachusetts	31
42	Buffalo, New Yorkbig city	32
42	Miami, Floridabig city	32
44	Des Moines, Iowa	33
44	Minneapolis, Minnesotabig city	33
44	Providence, Rhode Island	33
47	Madison, Wisconsinbig city	34
47	McAllen, Texas	34
47	Milwaukee, Wisconsinbig city	34
47	Omaha, Nebraskabig city	34
51	Jackson, Mississippi	35
52	Nashville, Tennesseebig city	36
53	Chicago, Illinoisbig city	38
53	Oklahoma City, Oklahomabig city	38
53	Spokane, Washington	38
56	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	39
56	Wichita, Kansasbig city	39
58	Chattanooga, Tennessee	40
58	Dayton, Ohio	40
58	Memphis, Tennesseebig city	40
61	Cleveland, Ohiobig city	41
62	Louisville, Kentuckybig city	43
62	Provo, Utah	43
62	San Francisco, Californiabig city	43
62	St. Louis, Missouribig city	43
66	Albuquerque, New Mexicobig city	44
66	Fayetteville, Arkansas	44
66	Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniabig city	44
66	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniabig city	44
66	Tulsa, Oklahomabig city	44
71	Atlanta, Georgiabig city	45
71	Cincinnati, Ohiobig city	45
73	New York, New Yorkbig city	46
73	Reno, Nevadabig city	46
73	Toledo, Ohiobig city	46
76	Dallas, Texasbig city	47
77	Ogden, Utah	48
77	Phoenix, Arizonabig city	48
79	Columbus, Ohiobig city	49
80	Tucson, Arizonabig city	50
81	Indianapolis, Indianabig city	51
81	Las Vegas, Nevadabig city	51
83	Akron, Ohio	52
83	Houston, Texasbig city	52
83	Kansas City, Missouribig city	52
83	Portland, Oregonbig city	52
83	Vancouver, Washington	52
88	Detroit, Michiganbig city	53
88	El Paso, Texasbig city	53
90	Boise, Idaho	54
90	Grand Rapids, Michigan	54
92	Sacramento, Californiabig city	58
93	Seattle, Washingtonbig city	59
94	Salt Lake City, Utah	61
95	Riverside, Californiabig city	64
96	Los Angeles, Californiabig city	67
97	Colorado Springs, Coloradobig city	71
98	Little Rock, Arkansas	77
98	Oxnard, California	77
100	San Diego, Californiabig city	90
100	Stockton, Californiabig city	90
102	Denver, Coloradobig city	100
103	San Jose, Californiabig city	112
104	Fresno, Californiabig city	115
105	Bakersfield, Californiabig city	129

Sources and method

AirNow · 10/04/26

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 Abhiram Juvvadi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Pokemonprime, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Shutterstock.