Driest Cities, Las Vegas, Nevada Leads (2026)

Name: Driest cities and states by annual rainfall, The Honest Local
Creator: The Honest Local
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Inches of precipitation a year, from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals; driest first.

By The Honest Local · 107 cities · every value links to its public source

4 inLas Vegas, Nevada leads with the lowest inches of rain a year of 107 big cities

The top five cities inches of rain a year

No. 1Las Vegas, Nevada4 ininches of rain a year
No. 2Bakersfield, California6.4 ininches of rain a year
No. 3Phoenix, Arizona7.2 ininches of rain a year
No. 4Reno, Nevada7.4 ininches of rain a year
No. 5El Paso, Texas8.8 ininches of rain a year

Driest Cities on the map

Driest cities and states by annual rainfall, cities hover for the numbers, click for every one

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Inches of precipitation a year, from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals; driest first.

Driest Cities, all 107

The full ranking inches of rain a year

	Place	inches of rain a year
1	Las Vegas, Nevadabig city	4 in
2	Bakersfield, Californiabig city	6.4 in
3	Phoenix, Arizonabig city	7.2 in
4	Reno, Nevadabig city	7.4 in
5	El Paso, Texasbig city	8.8 in
6	Albuquerque, New Mexicobig city	8.8 in
7	Riverside, Californiabig city	9.4 in
8	San Diego, Californiabig city	9.8 in
9	Tucson, Arizonabig city	10.6 in
10	Fresno, Californiabig city	11 in
11	Boise, Idaho	11.5 in
12	Oxnard, California	12.9 in
13	Stockton, Californiabig city	13.5 in
14	San Jose, Californiabig city	13.5 in
15	Los Angeles, Californiabig city	14.3 in
16	Denver, Coloradobig city	15.4 in
17	Provo, Utah	15.5 in
18	Salt Lake City, Utah	15.5 in
19	Colorado Springs, Coloradobig city	15.9 in
20	Ogden, Utah	16.4 in
21	Honolulu, Hawaiibig city	16.4 in
22	Spokane, Washington	17.4 in
23	Sacramento, Californiabig city	19.2 in
24	McAllen, Texas	22.2 in
25	San Francisco, Californiabig city	22.9 in
26	San Antonio, Texasbig city	29.7 in
27	Detroit, Michiganbig city	29.9 in
28	Minneapolis, Minnesotabig city	31.6 in
29	Omaha, Nebraskabig city	31.9 in
30	Toledo, Ohiobig city	32.4 in
31	Akron, Ohio	32.5 in
32	Cleveland, Ohiobig city	33.3 in
33	Wichita, Kansasbig city	34.3 in
34	Chicago, Illinoisbig city	34.4 in
35	Milwaukee, Wisconsinbig city	34.6 in
36	Rochester, New York	35.1 in
37	Austin, Texasbig city	36.3 in
38	Oklahoma City, Oklahomabig city	36.4 in
39	Seattle, Washingtonbig city	36.5 in
40	Des Moines, Iowa	36.6 in
41	Portland, Oregonbig city	36.9 in
42	Madison, Wisconsinbig city	37.1 in
43	Vancouver, Washington	37.5 in
44	Kansas City, Missouribig city	38.1 in
45	Dallas, Texasbig city	38.3 in
46	Grand Rapids, Michigan	39.4 in
47	Syracuse, New York	39.9 in
48	Asheville, North Carolina	40.6 in
49	Albany, New York	40.7 in
50	Buffalo, New Yorkbig city	40.7 in
51	St. Louis, Missouribig city	40.8 in
52	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	41 in
53	Tulsa, Oklahomabig city	41 in
54	Dayton, Ohio	41.3 in
55	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniabig city	41.3 in
56	Columbus, Ohiobig city	41.6 in
57	New Haven, Connecticut	41.8 in
58	Washington DC, Washington, DCbig city	41.8 in
59	Poughkeepsie, New York	41.9 in
60	Hartford, Connecticut	42.8 in
61	Winston-Salem, North Carolinabig city	43.2 in
62	Cincinnati, Ohiobig city	43.4 in
63	Charlotte, NCbig city	43.6 in
64	Boston, Massachusettsbig city	43.6 in
65	Indianapolis, Indianabig city	43.6 in
66	Columbia, South Carolina	43.7 in
67	Baltimore, Marylandbig city	43.7 in
68	Greensboro, North Carolinabig city	44 in
69	Bridgeport, Connecticut	44.1 in
70	Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniabig city	44.1 in
71	Charleston, South Carolina	44.3 in
72	Augusta, Georgia	44.8 in
73	Richmond, Virginia	45.5 in
74	Durham, North Carolinabig city	46.1 in
75	Lakeland, Florida	46.1 in
76	Raleigh, North Carolinabig city	46.1 in
77	Virginia Beach, Virginiabig city	46.6 in
78	Greenville, SC	47 in
79	Fayetteville, Arkansas	47 in
80	Allentown, Pennsylvania	47.4 in
81	Providence, Rhode Island	47.5 in
82	Jacksonville, Floridabig city	47.6 in
83	Jacksonville, Floridabig city	47.6 in
84	Savannah, Georgia	48.1 in
85	Portland, Maine	48.1 in
86	Louisville, Kentuckybig city	48.1 in
87	Atlanta, Georgiabig city	48.1 in
88	Worcester, Massachusetts	48.3 in
89	Sarasota, Florida	49.1 in
90	New York, New Yorkbig city	49.5 in
91	Tampa, Floridabig city	49.5 in
92	Little Rock, Arkansas	50.4 in
93	Nashville, Tennesseebig city	50.5 in
94	Melbourne, Florida	50.8 in
95	Daytona Beach, Florida	51.3 in
96	Jackson, Mississippi	51.3 in
97	Orlando, Floridabig city	51.5 in
98	Knoxville, Tennessee	51.9 in
99	Huntsville, AL	54.3 in
100	Memphis, Tennesseebig city	54.9 in
101	Chattanooga, Tennessee	55 in
102	Houston, Texasbig city	55.6 in
103	Birmingham, Alabama	56.6 in
104	Miami, Floridabig city	57.2 in
105	Cape Coral, Florida	57.4 in
106	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	61.9 in
107	New Orleans, Louisianabig city	64.6 in

Sources and method

NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 climate normals, MLY-PRCP-NORMAL (via tape_readings) · 1991-2020

How we got this. Annual rainfall comes from tape_readings, which src/tape/rain.ts reads from NOAA NCEI's 1991-2020 monthly climate normals (monthly precipitation summed to a year) at the nearest airport-network station that carries the field. A state is the population-weighted mean of its five largest cities' readings. Cities and states each rank on their own list, driest first. It refreshes static normals; re-run any time.

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.