CityFunIndex

Leaderboard

Cities with the cleanest air

Every city in the CityFunIndex, ranked by air quality — from the cleanest air to the most polluted. The clean-air score flips our pollution measure, so the city that is easiest to breathe in leads.

Cities ranked
134
Top score
100
Average
51

Pillar scores are national percentile ranks on a saturation curve, so the leader of every category lands near the same ceiling — the ranks beneath are still distinct. See how scoring works →

Anchorage (100) leads, ahead of Bend (99) and Telluride (98). Plano and 4 other cities sit at the bottom with 8 — a 92-point gap.

Regional read The top 10 spans 10 different states — no single state dominates this board.

All 134 cities, coloured by clean-air score band. The top-ranked cities draw larger.

  • Quiet
  • Some Fun
  • Fun
  • Very Fun
  • Exceptional

Score spread across all 134 cities

  • Quiet 40
  • Some Fun 23
  • Fun 30
  • Very Fun 20
  • Exceptional 21
  1. 1st 100 Anchorage, AK Fun Score 36
  2. 2nd 99 Bend, OR Fun Score 80
  3. T-3rd 98 Telluride, CO Fun Score 77
  4. T-3rd 98 Lubbock, TX Fun Score 32

Ranked 5–134

  1. #5 97 Montgomery, AL Fun Score 41
  2. #6 96 Park City, UT Fun Score 74
  3. T#7 95 Lexington, KY Fun Score 69
  4. T#7 95 Honolulu, HI Fun Score 86
  5. #9 94 Bridgeport, CT Fun Score 41
  6. #10 93 Asheville, NC Fun Score 85
  7. T#11 92 Gatlinburg, TN Fun Score 71
  8. T#11 92 Napa, CA Fun Score 52
  9. #13 91 Billings, MT Fun Score 60
  10. #14 90 Richmond, VA Fun Score 91
  11. T#15 89 Lincoln, NE Fun Score 74
  12. T#15 89 Fremont, CA Fun Score 54
  13. #17 88 Sacramento, CA Fun Score 54
  14. #18 87 San Francisco, CA Fun Score 96
  15. T#19 86 Hilton Head Island, SC Fun Score 58
  16. T#19 86 Savannah, GA Fun Score 75
  17. #21 85 Seattle, WA Fun Score 100
  18. #22 84 Hartford, CT Fun Score 64
  19. T#23 83 Manchester, NH Fun Score 55
  20. T#23 83 Santa Barbara, CA Fun Score 83
  21. #25 82 Providence, RI Fun Score 78
  22. #26 81 Memphis, TN Fun Score 14
  23. T#27 80 Boston, MA Fun Score 98
  24. T#27 80 Anaheim, CA Fun Score 41
  25. #29 79 Jackson, MS Fun Score 25
  26. T#30 78 Burlington, VT Fun Score 73
  27. T#30 78 Spokane, WA Fun Score 63
  28. #32 77 Baltimore, MD Fun Score 76
  29. #33 76 Jackson, WY Fun Score 87
  30. #34 75 Portland, ME Fun Score 100
  31. T#35 74 Nashville, TN Fun Score 60
  32. T#35 74 Oakland, CA Fun Score 61
  33. #37 73 Portland, OR Fun Score 81
  34. #38 72 St. Petersburg, FL Fun Score 46
  35. T#39 71 Greensboro, NC Fun Score 59
  36. T#39 71 Winston-Salem, NC Fun Score 32
  37. #41 70 Wilmington, DE Fun Score 50
  38. T#42 68 Chesapeake, VA Fun Score 44
  39. T#42 68 Norfolk, VA Fun Score 56
  40. T#42 68 Virginia Beach, VA Fun Score 49
  41. #45 67 Birmingham, AL Fun Score 58
  42. #46 66 Little Rock, AR Fun Score 47
  43. T#47 65 Washington, DC Fun Score 93
  44. T#47 65 Santa Clarita, CA Fun Score 30
  45. #49 64 Aspen, CO Fun Score 67
  46. #50 63 Baton Rouge, LA Fun Score 28
  47. #51 62 Buffalo, NY Fun Score 77
  48. T#52 61 Jersey City, NJ Fun Score 43
  49. T#52 61 Long Beach, CA Fun Score 31
  50. T#52 61 New York, NY Fun Score 54
  51. T#52 61 Newark, NJ Fun Score 36
  52. T#56 58 Louisville, KY Fun Score 55
  53. T#56 58 Raleigh, NC Fun Score 64
  54. #58 57 San Jose, CA Fun Score 62
  55. T#59 56 Durham, NC Fun Score 64
  56. T#59 56 Boise, ID Fun Score 80
  57. #61 55 Tulsa, OK Fun Score 51
  58. T#62 54 Madison, WI Fun Score 97
  59. T#62 54 Wichita, KS Fun Score 15
  60. T#64 50 Cleveland, OH Placeholder
  61. T#64 50 Corpus Christi, TX Fun Score 20
  62. T#64 50 Fort Worth, TX Placeholder
  63. T#64 50 Irvine, CA Placeholder
  64. T#64 50 Key West, FL Placeholder
  65. T#64 50 Orlando, FL Fun Score 65
  66. T#64 50 Santa Ana, CA Placeholder
  67. T#64 50 Stowe, VT Placeholder
  68. #72 47 Los Angeles, CA Fun Score 38
  69. T#73 45 Atlanta, GA Fun Score 88
  70. T#73 45 Charlotte, NC Fun Score 54
  71. T#75 44 Pittsburgh, PA Fun Score 94
  72. T#75 44 San Diego, CA Fun Score 74
  73. #77 43 Stockton, CA Fun Score 2
  74. #78 42 Fort Wayne, IN Fun Score 49
  75. T#79 41 Columbus, OH Fun Score 60
  76. T#79 41 Omaha, NE Fun Score 68
  77. #81 40 Colorado Springs, CO Fun Score 51
  78. #82 39 New Orleans, LA Fun Score 64
  79. T#83 38 Cincinnati, OH Fun Score 92
  80. T#83 38 Tampa, FL Fun Score 70
  81. #85 37 San Antonio, TX Fun Score 22
  82. #86 36 Oklahoma City, OK Fun Score 25
  83. #87 35 Charleston, SC Fun Score 87
  84. T#88 34 Chandler, AZ Fun Score 41
  85. T#88 34 Gilbert, AZ Fun Score 31
  86. T#88 34 Mesa, AZ Fun Score 36
  87. #91 32 Laredo, TX Fun Score 10
  88. T#92 31 Hialeah, FL Fun Score 18
  89. T#92 31 Miami, FL Fun Score 55
  90. #94 30 Santa Fe, NM Fun Score 63
  91. T#95 29 Indianapolis, IN Fun Score 48
  92. T#95 29 Sedona, AZ Fun Score 55
  93. #97 28 Kansas City, MO Fun Score 65
  94. T#98 26 Albuquerque, NM Fun Score 41
  95. T#98 26 Philadelphia, PA Fun Score 45
  96. T#98 26 Toledo, OH Fun Score 45
  97. #101 25 Fresno, CA Fun Score 23
  98. #102 24 Milwaukee, WI Fun Score 70
  99. T#103 23 Charleston, WV Fun Score 61
  100. T#103 23 Riverside, CA Fun Score 21
  101. #105 22 Bakersfield, CA Fun Score 0
  102. #106 21 Reno, NV Fun Score 66
  103. T#107 20 Fargo, ND Fun Score 48
  104. T#107 20 St. Louis, MO Fun Score 65
  105. #109 19 Des Moines, IA Fun Score 74
  106. #110 18 Austin, TX Fun Score 67
  107. T#111 17 Chicago, IL Fun Score 56
  108. T#111 17 Sioux Falls, SD Fun Score 40
  109. T#113 16 Jacksonville, FL Fun Score 19
  110. T#113 16 El Paso, TX Fun Score 21
  111. #115 15 Bismarck, ND Fun Score 26
  112. T#116 14 Houston, TX Fun Score 41
  113. T#116 14 Minneapolis, MN Fun Score 84
  114. T#116 14 Saint Paul, MN Fun Score 64
  115. #119 13 Tucson, AZ Fun Score 47
  116. T#120 12 Aurora, CO Fun Score 37
  117. T#120 12 Boulder, CO Fun Score 77
  118. T#120 12 Denver, CO Fun Score 82
  119. T#123 11 Detroit, MI Fun Score 45
  120. T#123 11 Henderson, NV Fun Score 13
  121. T#125 10 Las Vegas, NV Fun Score 35
  122. T#125 10 North Las Vegas, NV Fun Score 4
  123. T#127 9 Glendale, AZ Fun Score 10
  124. T#127 9 Phoenix, AZ Fun Score 40
  125. T#127 9 Scottsdale, AZ Fun Score 46
  126. T#130 8 Arlington, TX Fun Score 17
  127. T#130 8 Dallas, TX Fun Score 38
  128. T#130 8 Garland, TX Fun Score 0
  129. T#130 8 Irving, TX Fun Score 20
  130. T#130 8 Plano, TX Fun Score 40

6 of 134 cities have no air quality measurement, so they sit at the median (50) as a placeholder — flagged above and not a measured rank. The composite Fun Score renormalises around the gap, so it is unaffected.

The clean-air score flips a city's air quality score — 100 minus it — drawn from EPA AirNow and OpenAQ pollution readings (seven-day trailing average).