SmogRank / World / North America / United States / Arizona

Most polluted cities in Arizona, United States

16 measured cities, this year; 12 above the WHO annual guideline. Worst: Nogales at 8.4 µg/m³, #1,613 in the world.

About 6.8K people in these 3 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.

Arizona: 16 measured citiesCalifornia: 112 measured citiesNew Mexico: 7 measured citiesUtah: 21 measured citiesNevada: 11 measured citiesColorado: 17 measured cities#16 Green Valley: 3.2 µg/m³#15 Marana: 4.5 µg/m³#14 Apache Junction: 4.8 µg/m³#13 Camp Verde: 5.0 µg/m³#12 Casas Adobes: 5.5 µg/m³#11 Mesa: 6.0 µg/m³#9 Glendale: 6.3 µg/m³#10 Show Low: 6.3 µg/m³#7 Tempe: 6.5 µg/m³#8 Tucson: 6.5 µg/m³#5 Payson: 6.8 µg/m³#6 Yuma: 6.8 µg/m³#4 Casa Grande: 7.1 µg/m³#3 West Sedona: 7.3 µg/m³#2 Phoenix: 8.1 µg/m³#1 Nogales: 8.4 µg/m³
Each dot is a measured city, coloured by its PM2.5; tap a dot to open the city.
← Phoenix 5.94K 5K0
Every measured city in Arizona, United States with monitors in two or more places, one column each, ranked by people breathing unhealthy air: height is people on an average day, colour its average. Point at it to read a city; tap to open it.
  1. 1Phoenix 5.94K
  2. 2Glendale 864
  3. 3Casas Adobes 0
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

Estimated: cities without a monitor

Arizona cities we can't measure, with model estimates for the last 7 days. Listed by population, not ranked: estimates aren't precise enough to rank. Model estimates from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), adjusted to measured cities nearby where there are any. Adjusted, a single day lands within ×1.5 of what a monitor would read about two times in three; unadjusted, it can be off by half or double. Treat them as a guide, not a measurement.

City7-day estimateBand
Chandler≈ 16 µg/m³Moderate
Gilbert≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Scottsdale≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Peoria≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Tempe Junction≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Surprise≈ 8 µg/m³Good
San Tan Valley≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Avondale≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Goodyear≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Lake Havasu City≈ 2 µg/m³Good
Buckeye≈ 9 µg/m³Good
Catalina Foothills≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Maricopa≈ 16 µg/m³Moderate
Oro Valley≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Sierra Vista≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Prescott Valley≈ 2 µg/m³Good
Bullhead City≈ 2 µg/m³Good
Sun City≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Queen Creek≈ 6 µg/m³Good
El Mirage≈ 8 µg/m³Good
San Luis≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Florence≈ 2 µg/m³Good
Kingman≈ 1 µg/m³Good
Drexel Heights≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Fortuna Foothills≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Sahuarita≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Sun City West≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Fountain Hills≈ 4 µg/m³Good
Rio Rico≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Eloy≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Tanque Verde≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Flowing Wells≈ 3 µg/m³Good
Somerton≈ 6 µg/m³Good

Bad-air episodes in Arizona

Times when many cities around here had PM2.5 at twice their usual or more on the same days.

Use this board

SmogRank, most polluted cities in Arizona, United States, PM2.5, this year to 6 Oct 2026, 23:00 UTC, smogrank.com/us/region/arizona?w=year.

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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.

Updated 2026-10-06 23:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the US AQI PM2.5 sub-index.