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.
About 0 people in this city 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.
Cities coloured by their PM2.5 over the last 24 hours. Fires, smoke and ash: Oct 5, the newest UTC day mapped.
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.
| City | 7-day estimate |
|---|---|
| Brooklyn | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Queens | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Manhattan | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| The Bronx | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Staten Island | ≈ 6 µg/m³ |
| Yonkers | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Amherst | ≈ 6 µg/m³ |
| West Albany | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| Greenburgh | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| New Rochelle | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Cheektowaga | ≈ 6 µg/m³ |
| Mount Vernon | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Schenectady | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| Brentwood | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| Clay | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| Hempstead | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Levittown | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Irondequoit | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| Troy | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| Niagara Falls | ≈ 6 µg/m³ |
| Binghamton | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| West Seneca | ≈ 6 µg/m³ |
| Freeport | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| West Babylon | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| Henrietta | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| Hicksville | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Coram | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| East Meadow | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Valley Stream | ≈ 6 µg/m³ |
| Clifton Park | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| Brighton | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| Commack | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| Central Islip | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
| New City | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| Long Beach | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| Elmont | ≈ 6 µg/m³ |
| Huntington Station | ≈ 7 µg/m³ |
| Kiryas Joel | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| Spring Valley | ≈ 5 µg/m³ |
| Rome | ≈ 4 µg/m³ |
Bad-air episodes in New York
- Northern United States and Canada, July 202614 to 21 July 2026, 8 days327 cities548 µg/m³peak, Superior
- North-eastern United States and Canada, 14 to 19 February 20266 days108 cities54 µg/m³peak, Lancaster
- South-eastern Canada and United States, February 20263 to 4 February 2026, 2 days11 cities40 µg/m³peak, Nepean
- North-eastern United States and Canada around Nepean, 6 January 20261 day16 cities34 µg/m³peak, Camden
- Pennsylvania and New York, United States, December 202517 December 2025, 1 day8 cities34 µg/m³peak, Lancaster
- North-eastern United States and Canada, 29 July to 9 August 202512 days292 cities112 µg/m³peak, Marquette
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.
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.