Portland, Oregon Has the Dirtiest Air Right Now of Any Big City in America (2026)

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

Portland, Oregon has the dirtiest air right now of the 105 US cities we rank, with an AQI of 76 (AirNow, Nov 4, 2026). Spokane, Washington is next, with an AQI of 72.

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

76Portland, Oregon leads on the list, the highest reading of 105 citiesThe air quality index at this moment, straight from the tape.

The Portland skyline with the West Hills behind it under a moody sky, fall color in the foreground — **Portland, Oregon**, No. 1 of 105. Portland from the west, Mount Hood behind it, in October.

The top five cities AQI right now

No. 1Portland, Oregon76AQI right now
No. 2Spokane, Washington72AQI right now
No. 3Vancouver, Washington70AQI right now
No. 4Seattle, Washington67AQI right now
No. 5El Paso, Texas62AQI right now

Dirtiest 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.

Dirtiest Air Right Now by City, all 105

The full ranking AQI right now

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

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 ARCloud, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Shutterstock · More Than Just Parks.