5 Cities with the Best Air Quality in the U.S.

Despite efforts to clean up air pollution levels, almost 131.2 million people in the U.S. live in areas with unhealthy levels of particle pollution or ozone - 11.7 million more than last year's report.¹

According to the American Lung Association's 25th annual “State of the Air” report, wildfires are a significant contributor to much of this pollution which disproportionately affects Western states. 

This year's findings reflect patterns from last year, showing that areas with failing grades were home to 44 million residents were people of color (over 60%). 

Unhealthy air can lead to a poor quality of life and multiple health problems. Dirty air can instigate emergency room visits, poor lung development in children, and even death in some cases.

If you’re looking to breathe in some cleaner air, look to these metro areas which the American Lung Association deemed this year's cleanest in the US.

This is Bangor's second consecutive year on the American Lung Association's list of cleanest places to live. Bangor and the Johnson City, TN area tied in this year's report for first place for cleanest areas in the country for ozone and 24-hour particle pollution. 

Find out more about what's keeping Bangor's air fresher than most on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's list of air quality programs.

The Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol area straddles the state lines between Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. The region is known for sitting in the crossroads of historic Civil War sites, state parks, and the Appalachian Mountains. The area is home to over 500,000 residents and has boasted below-average rates for 24-hour particle pollution since 2001.  

For the second year in a row, Lincoln lands on the American Lung Association's list of the cleanest places to live in the U.S. Stay up-to-date on the current air quality in the Lincoln area, along with public notices, media coverage, and air quality resources from the Lincoln Air Quality Program.

Once again Honolulu lands on the list of cities with the cleanest air in the U.S. What else would you expect from an island paradise? But it's not just geography at work here—the Hawaii Department of Health has an entire Clean Air Branch dedicated to keeping its island air as pure as possible. 

Rounding out the list of the cleanest cities is Wilmington, which makes its second consecutive showing the American Lung Association's list. Go to North Carolina's Air Quality Portal for daily pollution and ozone forecasts, pollen counts, and more. 

• The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, was the nation's first legislation aimed at air pollution.
• Air pollution particles can be smaller than 1/30th the diameter of your hair, making them ideal for inhalation and passing by the body's defenses.
• Particle pollution can lead to increased risk of lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and emergency room visits.
• The increase in wildfires across the U.S. adds to particle air pollution via spreading smoke.
• The American Lung Association's, "Compare Your Air" tool will let you compare air quality in these top cities to your own metro area. 
• From 2020 to 2022, an estimated 100.6 million people lived in areas that earned an F grade for ozone pollution. 
• Of those, three in every ten people, including millions of infants and children, were living in areas deemed high risk for pollution exposure. 
• Growing risks associated with wildfires lead the US to see 135 purple and 79 maroon air quality days across the country. 
• According to the 2024 report, 33 metro areas met or exceeded "worst-ever weighted average number of days with unhealthy levels of fine particle pollution."
• Four of the five worst cities for year-round air pollution were located in California: Bakersfield, Visalia, Fresno, and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metro. Eugene, Oregon, was the only one in the top five outside of the state. 
• People of color, those living below the poverty line, and folks with underlying health conditions are most at risk of harm from pollution and poor air quality. Over 27.5 million people of color live in counties with failing grades for ozone, year-round, and short-term particle pollution.
• Check the air quality forecast in your area before exercising or working outdoors. 
• Using a portable air purifier with a HEPA filter can help reduce triggers for people with asthma.
• If you or someone you love has asthma, develop an asthma action plan to deal with environmental triggers at home.

• State of Safety in the US
• The Best Air Purifiers
• How to Test Air Quality in the Home

Methodology

We used the American Lung Association's "State of the Air" report, which identified the cities in the U.S. with the cleanest air.

To make the list, "a city must experience no high ozone or particle pollution days and rank among the 25 cities with the lowest year-round particle pollution levels."

The “State of the Air” report uses data from air quality monitors managed by state, local and tribal air pollution control authorities in counties across the country. Out of 3,221 counties in the U.S., only 29% (922) can monitor for at least one pollutant. That leaves over 71 million people living in counties where  ozone and particle pollution levels aren't monitored.

The report, published on April 23, 2024, covers air quality metrics for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022.

1. American Lung Association, "2024 State of Air: Key Findings." Accessed April 25, 2024 
2. Environmental Protection Agency, "What is a HEPA filter?" March 5, 2024.  Accessed April 25, 2024