CityFunIndex

Chicago, IL · the CityFunIndex

Air quality in Chicago

Chicago ranks T#111 of 134 US cities for clean air, with a clean-air score of 17 — Quiet. That puts it in the 18th percentile nationally and #1 of 1 in Illinois.

clean-air score
17
Quiet
National rank
T#111 of 134
In Illinois
#1 of 1
Percentile
18th

The typical city scores 50 for clean air; Chicago sits 33 points below the median.

How air quality is measured

Recent particulate matter and ozone levels — a trailing-week air-quality average.

The clean-air score is the flip side of our air quality measure — 100 minus the raw air quality score — so a city with less of it scores higher.

Data sources: EPA AirNow and OpenAQ pollution readings (seven-day trailing average).

Full methodology → Glossary The raw measurement is part of the Data plan →

Ranked around Chicago

  1. #109 Des Moines, IA 19
  2. #110 Austin, TX 18
  3. T#111 Chicago, IL — this page 17
  4. T#113 El Paso, TX 16
  5. T#113 Jacksonville, FL 16

See the full leaderboard — Cities with the cleanest air →

Top US cities for clean air

  1. #1 Anchorage, AK 100
  2. #2 Bend, OR 99
  3. T#3 Lubbock, TX 98
  4. T#3 Telluride, CO 98
  5. #5 Montgomery, AL 97

More about Chicago

Chicago scores 56 overall (Fun) on the CityFunIndex. Its strongest factors: