SmogRank / Rankings

622 cities by people breathing unhealthy air, this year

Every city with enough measurements in this window, worst first.

CPCB in India: no readings since 12 Oct (488 monitors). EEA in Spain: no readings since 13 Oct (310 monitors). Their cities show older figures or are missing from this board, not clean.

About 106M people in these 622 cities breathed unhealthy air on an average day so far this year.

Ranked by people: each city's population times its share of unhealthy days, those with a daily mean over 35.4 µg/m³ (US AQI 101+). That is how many people living there breathed unhealthy air on an average day. Only cities measured at 2 or more places at least 3 km apart are ranked: one monitor shouldn't speak for a whole city. Population is the city itself, not its wider metro area.

  1. 201YeongjuGyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea 7.94K
  2. 202GyeongjuGyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea 7.94K
  3. 203Jeju CityJeju-do, South Korea 7.3K
  4. 204Kölnlast full day 10 OctNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 7.27K
  5. 205WashingtonDistrict of Columbia, United States 7.23K
  6. 206BrusselsBrussels Capital, Belgium 7.15K
  7. 207Braunschweiglast full day 10 OctLower Saxony, Germany 6.97K
  8. 208NamyangjuGyeonggi-do, South Korea 6.81K
  9. 209PłockMazovia, Poland 6.71K
  10. 210Yangp'yŏngGyeonggi-do, South Korea 6.66K
  11. 211BoryeongChungcheongnam-do, South Korea 6.65K
  12. 212BurundayAlmaty Region, Kazakhstan 6.61K
  13. 213GwangjuGyeonggi-do, South Korea 6.47K
  14. 214Essenlast full day 10 OctNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 6.31K
  15. 215IndianapolisIndiana, United States 6.21K
  16. 216San Francisco De BorjaLima region, Peru 5.95K
  17. 217Otegen BatyraAlmaty Region, Kazakhstan 5.8K
  18. 218PhoenixArizona, United States 5.77K
  19. 219LjubljanaLjubljana, Slovenia 5.71K
  20. 220AntwerpFlanders, Belgium 5.55K
  21. 221EindhovenNorth Brabant, The Netherlands 5.44K
  22. 222Duisburglast full day 10 OctNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 5.37K
  23. 223GroningenGroningen, The Netherlands 5.28K
  24. 224ZapopanJalisco, Mexico 5.2K
  25. 225Chinch'ŏnNorth Chungcheong, South Korea 4.97K
  26. 226SuncheonJeollanam-do, South Korea 4.95K
  27. 227SoachaCundinamarca, Colombia 4.94K
  28. 228WindsorOntario, Canada 4.82K
  29. 229StrasbourgGrand Est, France 4.81K
  30. 230Pachuca de SotoHidalgo, Mexico 4.62K
  31. 231PortlandOregon, United States 4.56K
  32. 232BergenVestland, Norway 4.52K
  33. 233SeonghwanChungcheongnam-do, South Korea 4.51K
  34. 234Düsseldorflast full day 10 OctNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 4.39K
  35. 235MinneapolisMinnesota, United States 4.31K
  36. 236Augsburglast full day 10 OctBavaria, Germany 4.3K
  37. 237YesanChungcheongnam-do, South Korea 4.18K
  38. 238MonterreyNuevo León, Mexico 4.11K
  39. 239KarlsruheBaden-Wurttemberg, Germany 4.03K
  40. 240ManchesterEngland, United Kingdom 3.98K
  41. 241GongjuChungcheongnam-do, South Korea 3.91K
  42. 242MunsanGyeonggi-do, South Korea 3.87K
  43. 243RayongRayong, Thailand 3.81K
  44. 244YeosuJeollanam-do, South Korea 3.77K
  45. 245GijangBusan, South Korea 3.74K
  46. 246Nuremberglast full day 10 OctBavaria, Germany 3.68K
  47. 247LyonAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France 3.64K
  48. 248NewcastleNew South Wales, Australia 3.56K
  49. 249KoesanNorth Chungcheong, South Korea 3.54K
  50. 250JacksonvilleFlorida, United States 3.53K
  51. 251Rostocklast full day 10 OctMecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany 3.53K
  52. 252Ciudad General EscobedoNuevo León, Mexico 3.53K
  53. 253Santa CatarinaNuevo León, Mexico 3.48K
  54. 254NaplesCampania, Italy 3.38K
  55. 255TangjinChungcheongnam-do, South Korea 3.35K
  56. 256BredaNorth Brabant, The Netherlands 3.28K
  57. 257Spokane ValleyWashington, United States 3.18K
  58. 258CheorwonGangwon-do, South Korea 3.02K
  59. 259ZürichZurich, Switzerland 2.97K
  60. 260MadisonWisconsin, United States 2.94K
  61. 261Bang PakongChachoengsao, Thailand 2.88K
  62. 262Donghae CityGangwon-do, South Korea 2.85K
  63. 263NonsanChungcheongnam-do, South Korea 2.84K
  64. 264SeosanChungcheongnam-do, South Korea 2.82K
  65. 265Fremontlast full day 11 OctCalifornia, United States 2.82K
  66. 266BordeauxNew Aquitaine, France 2.78K
  67. 267GentFlanders, Belgium 2.78K
  68. 268Jersey CityNew Jersey, United States 2.77K
  69. 269Tri-CitiesWashington, United States 2.6K
  70. 270Wuppertallast full day 10 OctNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 2.56K
  71. 271BuanJeollabuk-do, South Korea 2.56K
  72. 272NepeanOntario, Canada 2.55K
  73. 273SevillaAndalusia, Spain 2.5K
  74. 274Royal OakMichigan, United States 2.39K
  75. 275JungpyongNorth Chungcheong, South Korea 2.37K
  76. 276Rio ClaroSão Paulo, Brazil 2.3K
  77. 277ShakaskraalKwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 2.3K
  78. 278BostonMassachusetts, United States 2.29K
  79. 279ColumbusGeorgia, United States 2.23K
  80. 280Ústí nad LabemÚstí nad Labem Region, Czechia 2.21K
  81. 281SalzburgSalzburg, Austria 2.2K
  82. 282QuinteroValparaiso, Chile 2.19K
  83. 283KagoshimaKagoshima, Japan 2.16K
  84. 284YŏnmuChungcheongnam-do, South Korea 2.16K
  85. 285LinzUpper Austria, Austria 2.15K
  86. 286Southend-on-SeaEngland, United Kingdom 2.14K
  87. 287NamsaJeollabuk-do, South Korea 2.1K
  88. 288RoubaixHauts-de-France, France 2.09K
  89. 289UngsangGyeongsangnam-do, South Korea 2.05K
  90. 290AmiensHauts-de-France, France 2.04K
  91. 291Ganghwa-gunIncheon, South Korea 2.04K
  92. 292ZaanstadNorth Holland, The Netherlands 2.02K
  93. 293YakimaWashington, United States 2.01K
  94. 294TocopillaAntofagasta, Chile 1.89K
  95. 295EugeneOregon, United States 1.85K
  96. 296BendOregon, United States 1.83K
  97. 297HumennéPrešov Region, Slovakia 1.82K
  98. 298HayangGyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea 1.82K
  99. 299SaseboNagasaki, Japan 1.74K
  100. 300Toyamalast full day 22 SeptToyama, Japan 1.68K

What stands behind each figure: Checked at 2+ sites One reference monitor Low-cost sensors About these marks

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
Unhealthy for 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

Not covered: the government monitoring networks of China, Turkey and Iran, which publish only on their own websites. We are building the reader for China's network. The networks of Turkey and Iran don't answer requests from outside their countries, so we can't read them. Most cities there are missing from this board, not clean. Why.

Use this board

SmogRank, all cities ranked by people breathing unhealthy air (PM2.5), this year to 14 Oct 2026, 07:00 UTC: each city's population times its share of measured days with a daily mean over 35.4 µg/m³ (only cities with 2 or more monitoring places 3 km or more apart), cities measured on 70% or more of the days since 1 January (at least 14). Monitor data from national networks via OpenAQ and the publishers listed at smogrank.com/sources. smogrank.com/rankings?w=year&by=people. Ranked on low-cost sensors, with no reference monitor in the city: #1 Lahore, #3 Dhaka, #4 Lagos, #5 Peshawar, #6 Karachi and #7 Faisalabad. Some values from Sensor.Community, ODbL. Some readings from Aurassure; Vietnam's government monitors; Department of Environment, Nepal; RMCAB (Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, Bogotá); Umhverfisstofnun (Environment Agency of Iceland), no reuse terms published.

Download top 10 by average (PNG)

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.

Updated 2026-10-14 07:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the US AQI PM2.5 sub-index. Some low-cost readings: Sensor.Community, ODbL (data and licence). Some readings: Aurassure; Vietnam's government monitors; Department of Environment, Nepal; RMCAB (Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, Bogotá); Umhverfisstofnun (Environment Agency of Iceland), no reuse terms published (why we use them).