SmogRank / World / United Kingdom / England / 2024
Most polluted cities in England, United Kingdom, 2024
22 cities in England, United Kingdom ranked by their average PM2.5 over the 366 days; 22 above the WHO annual guideline (5.0 µg/m³). Worst: Grays at 8.7 µg/m³, #832 of 2,052 cities in the world. Cleanest: Dagenham at 5.6. A city needs measurements on 70% of the days to be ranked.
OpenAQ's archive, where our readings come from, has almost none for one of these days. Cities in the United States and Europe have it from the EPA's and the European Environment Agency's own records of the same monitors; elsewhere a city's average is over its other days. Why.
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.
- 1Birminghamlow-cost sensors 1%
- 2Grays 0%
- 3Dartford 0%
- 4Manchester 0%
- 5London 0%
- 6Leeds 0%
- 7Kingston upon Hull 0%
- 7Bexley 0%
- 9Plymouth 0%
- 9Canterbury 0%
- 11Sheffield 0%
- 12Stoke-on-Trent 0%
- 13York 0%
- 13Hayes 0%
- 15Southampton 0%
- 15Chesterfield 0%
- 17Preston 0%
- 18Reading 0%
- 18Royal Leamington Spa 0%
- 20Seaford 0%
- 21Middlesbrough 0%
- 22Dagenham 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.
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, 2024 · All cities in United Kingdom, 2024 · England now
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SmogRank, most polluted cities in England, United Kingdom, PM2.5, 2024, smogrank.com/gb/region/england/history/2024 (accessed 6 Oct 2026).
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.