SmogRank / World / North America / United States / Kentucky

Most polluted cities in Kentucky, United States

17 measured cities, last 30 days; 0 above the WHO 24-hour guideline. Worst: Valley Station at 8.0 µg/m³, #983 in the world.

About 0 people in these 2 cities breathed unhealthy air on an average day over the last 30 days.

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.

Ohio: 27 measured citiesNorth Carolina: 17 measured citiesVirginia: 14 measured citiesMissouri: 10 measured citiesIllinois: 37 measured citiesKentucky: 17 measured citiesArkansas: 4 measured citiesTennessee: 13 measured citiesWest Virginia: 4 measured citiesIndiana: 22 measured cities#17 Pikeville: 5.4 µg/m³#16 Hazard: 5.8 µg/m³#14 Ashland: 5.9 µg/m³#15 Highland Heights: 5.9 µg/m³#13 Nicholasville: 6.1 µg/m³#12 Lexington-Fayette: 6.3 µg/m³#11 Jeffersontown: 6.5 µg/m³#10 Paducah: 6.6 µg/m³#9 Oak Grove: 6.7 µg/m³#6 Elizabethtown: 6.8 µg/m³#7 Middlesboro: 6.8 µg/m³#8 Owensboro: 6.8 µg/m³#4 Flatwoods: 6.9 µg/m³#5 Somerset: 6.9 µg/m³#3 Saint Matthews: 7.0 µg/m³#2 Louisville: 7.9 µg/m³#1 Valley Station: 8.0 µg/m³
Each dot is a measured city, coloured by its PM2.5; tap a dot to open the city.
  1. 1Louisville 0
  2. 2Ashland 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

Kentucky 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
Lexington≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Meads≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Bowling Green≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Covington≈ 9 µg/m³Good
Richmond≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Georgetown≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Florence≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Hopkinsville≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Henderson≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Frankfort≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Independence≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Radcliff≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Newburg≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Madisonville≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Murray≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Erlanger≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Winchester≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Fern Creek≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Okolona≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Danville≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Fort Thomas≈ 9 µg/m³Good
Burlington≈ 8 µg/m³Good
Shively≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Newport≈ 9 µg/m³Good
Shelbyville≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Highview≈ 8 µg/m³Good

Bad-air episodes in Kentucky

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

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SmogRank, most polluted cities in Kentucky, United States, PM2.5, last 30 days to 6 Oct 2026, 22:00 UTC, smogrank.com/us/region/kentucky?w=30d.

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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 22:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the US AQI PM2.5 sub-index.