SmogRank / World / North America / United States / New York

Most polluted cities in New York, United States

10 measured cities, last 30 days; 0 above the WHO 24-hour guideline. Worst: Buffalo at 7.0 µg/m³, #1,321 in the world.

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.

Ohio: 27 measured citiesPennsylvania: 36 measured citiesNew York: 10 measured citiesVermont: 4 measured citiesNew Hampshire: 4 measured citiesMaine: 5 measured citiesDelaware: 7 measured citiesNew Jersey: 19 measured citiesConnecticut: 6 measured citiesRhode Island: 3 measured citiesMassachusetts: 17 measured citiesWest Virginia: 4 measured cities#10 White Plains: 2.5 µg/m³#9 Mount Ivy: 2.7 µg/m³#8 Newburgh: 3.0 µg/m³#7 Utica: 3.7 µg/m³#6 Albany: 4.1 µg/m³#5 Holbrook: 4.2 µg/m³#4 Syracuse: 4.4 µg/m³#3 Rochester: 4.6 µg/m³#2 New York City: 5.1 µg/m³#1 Buffalo: 7.0 µg/m³
Each dot is a measured city, coloured by its PM2.5; tap a dot to open the city.
← Buffalo 0% 0.75%0
Every measured city in New York, United States, 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. 1Buffalo 0%
  2. 2New York City 0%
  3. 3Rochester 0%
  4. 4Syracuse 0%
  5. 5Holbrook 0%
  6. 6Albany 0%
  7. 7Utica 0%
  8. 8Newburgh 0%
  9. 9Mount Ivy 0%
  10. 10White Plains 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

New York 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
Brooklyn≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Queens≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Manhattan≈ 7 µg/m³Good
The Bronx≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Staten Island≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Yonkers≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Amherst≈ 6 µg/m³Good
West Albany≈ 4 µg/m³Good
Greenburgh≈ 5 µg/m³Good
New Rochelle≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Cheektowaga≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Mount Vernon≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Schenectady≈ 4 µg/m³Good
Brentwood≈ 4 µg/m³Good
Clay≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Hempstead≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Levittown≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Irondequoit≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Troy≈ 4 µg/m³Good
Niagara Falls≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Binghamton≈ 4 µg/m³Good
West Seneca≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Freeport≈ 7 µg/m³Good
West Babylon≈ 4 µg/m³Good
Henrietta≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Hicksville≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Coram≈ 5 µg/m³Good
East Meadow≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Valley Stream≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Clifton Park≈ 4 µg/m³Good
Brighton≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Commack≈ 4 µg/m³Good
Central Islip≈ 4 µg/m³Good
New City≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Long Beach≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Elmont≈ 6 µg/m³Good
Huntington Station≈ 7 µg/m³Good
Kiryas Joel≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Spring Valley≈ 5 µg/m³Good
Rome≈ 4 µg/m³Good

Bad-air episodes in New York

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 New York, United States, PM2.5, last 30 days to 6 Oct 2026, 23:00 UTC, smogrank.com/us/region/new-york?w=30d.

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