SmogRank / World / Germany / North Rhine-Westphalia / March 2026

Most polluted cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, March 2026

34 cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany ranked by their average PM2.5 over the 31 days. Worst: Dortmund at 16.9 µg/m³, #723 of 2,947 cities in the world. Cleanest: Roetgen at 9.0. A city needs measurements on 70% of the days to be ranked.

Ranked by unhealthy days: the share of each city's measured days with a daily mean over 35.4 µg/m³ (US AQI 101+), Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups or worse on the US EPA's scale. Ties go to the higher average.

← Dortmund 10% 9%0
Every city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany ranked for March 2026, one column each, ranked by unhealthy days: height is the share of its measured days that were unhealthy, colour its average. Point at it to read a city; tap to open it.
  1. 1Dortmund
    10%
  2. 2Kaldenkirchen
    3%
  3. 3Bottrop
    3%
  4. 4Münster
    3%
  5. 5Olpelow-cost sensors
    3%
  6. 6Borken
    3%
  7. 7Jüchen
    3%
  8. 8Datteln
    0%
  9. 9Unna
    0%
  10. 10Oberhausen
    0%
  11. 11Hagen
    0%
  12. 12Duisburg
    0%
  13. 13Krefeld
    0%
  14. 13Gelsenkirchen
    0%
  15. 15Warstein
    0%
  16. 15Essen
    0%
  17. 15Bielefeld
    0%
  18. 18Schwerte
    0%
  19. 19Titz
    0%
  20. 20Düsseldorf
    0%
  21. 21Aachen
    0%
  22. 22Wuppertal
    0%
  23. 23Soest
    0%
  24. 24Köln
    0%
  25. 25Mönchengladbach
    0%
  26. 26Wesel
    0%
  27. 27Leverkusen
    0%
  28. 28Sinnersdorf
    0%
  29. 28Niederzier
    0%
  30. 30Hattingen
    0%
  31. 30Bonn
    0%
  32. 32Ratingen
    0%
  33. 33Lüdenscheid
    0%
  34. 34Roetgen
    0%

Low-cost sensors: consumer units, counted only in cities with no government-grade monitor; they read close to reference monitors on the whole, but 15 to 25% high in humid air. How we use them.

Good0–50
Moderate51–100
Sensitive groups101–150
Unhealthy151–200
Very unhealthy201–300
Hazardous301+

The US EPA's Air Quality Index for PM2.5 (2024 breakpoints). Show values as: µg/m³ · US AQI · India AQI · China AQI · European AQI · UK DAQI · Canada AQHI+. About the scales

All cities in the world, March 2026 · All cities in Germany, March 2026 · North Rhine-Westphalia now

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SmogRank, most polluted cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, PM2.5, March 2026, smogrank.com/de/region/north-rhine-westphalia/history/2026-03 (accessed 6 Oct 2026).

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You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms. Raw monitor readings in bulk are published by OpenAQ, under each provider's licence.