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 34
  2. 2nd 99 Bend, OR Fun Score 79
  3. T-3rd 98 Telluride, CO Fun Score 74
  4. T-3rd 98 Lubbock, TX Fun Score 32

Ranked 5–134

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