Demographia

Air Pollution Ranked in US Metropolitan Areas: 1997

Number of Days with PSI Values Greater than 100 at Trend Sites
1997 Rank (Best to Worst) Metropolitan Area 1988 1997 Change 1988 Rank (Best to Worst) Rank: Change
1 Honolulu, HI 0 0 0.0% 1 86
1 West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL 0 0 0.0% 1 86
1 San Francisco, CA 1 0 -100.0% 4 1
1 Syracuse, NY 1 0 -100.0% 4 1
1 Fort Lauderdale, FL 3 0 -100.0% 7 1
1 Austin-San Marcos, TX 7 0 -100.0% 11 1
1 Omaha, NE-IA 7 0 -100.0% 11 1
1 Oakland, CA 8 0 -100.0% 14 1
1 Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA 9 0 -100.0% 17 1
1 Albuquerque, NM 9 0 -100.0% 17 1
1 Tacoma, WA 10 0 -100.0% 21 1
1 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI 11 0 -100.0% 22 1
1 San Jose, CA 24 0 -100.0% 34 1
1 Las Vegas, NV-AZ 30 0 -100.0% 47 1
1 Denver, CO 35 0 -100.0% 53 1
16 Tucson, AZ 6 1 -83.3% 10 26
16 Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR 9 1 -88.9% 17 21
16 Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT 16 1 -93.8% 25 18
16 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA 20 1 -95.0% 28 16
16 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 31 1 -96.8% 50 15
21 Sacramento, CA 88 2 -97.7% 86 14
22 San Antonio, TX 7 3 -57.1% 11 64
22 Miami, FL 8 3 -62.5% 14 59
22 Charleston-North Charleston, SC 11 3 -72.7% 22 43
22 El Paso, TX 15 3 -80.0% 24 30
22 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 23 3 -87.0% 30 24
22 Youngstown-Warren, OH 25 3 -88.0% 38 23
22 Toledo, OH 29 3 -89.7% 44 20
22 Orange County, CA 56 3 -94.6% 80 17
30 Orlando, FL 2 4 100.0% 6 91
30 Jacksonville, FL 4 4 0.0% 8 86
30 Oklahoma City, OK 8 4 -50.0% 14 70
30 Tampa, FL 9 4 -55.6% 17 66
30 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 40 4 -90.0% 66 19
35 Columbus, OH 24 5 -79.2% 34 31
35 Bergen-Passaic, NJ 27 5 -81.5% 40 28
37 New Orleans, LA 24 6 -75.0% 34 37
37 Rochester, NY 24 6 -75.0% 34 37
37 Wilmington-Newark, DE-MD 28 6 -78.6% 42 32
37 Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI 36 6 -83.3% 58 26
37 Akron, OH 46 6 -87.0% 75 24
42 Tulsa, OK 23 7 -69.6% 30 48
43 Baton Rouge, LA 17 8 -52.9% 26 69
43 Nassau-Suffolk, NY 22 8 -63.6% 29 56
43 Boston, MA-NH 28 8 -71.4% 42 45
43 Birmingham, AL 33 8 -75.8% 51 35
47 Jersey City, NJ 30 9 -70.0% 47 46
47 Scranton-Wilkes Barre-Hazleton, PA 30 9 -70.0% 47 46
47 Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC 35 9 -74.3% 53 39
47 Dayton-Springfield, OH 37 9 -75.7% 59 36
47 Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA 39 9 -76.9% 63 34
47 Chicago, IL 40 9 -77.5% 66 33
53 Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA 18 10 -44.4% 27 76
53 Springfield, MA 29 10 -65.5% 44 55
55 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 57 11 -80.7% 82 29
56 Monmouth-Ocean, NJ 0 12 0.0% 1 86
56 Detroit, MI 35 12 -65.7% 53 54
56 Gary, IN 37 12 -67.6% 59 52
56 Indianapolis, IN 39 12 -69.2% 63 49
56 Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, OH 45 12 -73.3% 74 42
61 Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 4 13 225.0% 8 92
61 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA 35 13 -62.9% 53 58
61 Newark, NJ 41 13 -68.3% 68 50
61 Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Pt, NC 46 13 -71.7% 75 44
61 Louisville, KY-IN 49 13 -73.5% 77 41
66 Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 27 14 -48.1% 40 75
66 Memphis, TN-AR-MS 44 14 -68.2% 71 51
66 San Diego, CA 123 14 -88.6% 89 22
69 Norfolk-VA Beach-Newport News, VA-NC 23 15 -34.8% 30 82
69 Phoenix-Mesa, AZ 29 15 -48.3% 44 74
69 Dallas, TX 37 15 -59.5% 59 61
69 St. Louis, MO-IL 44 15 -65.9% 71 53
73 Hartford, CT 39 16 -59.0% 63 63
74 Kansas City, MO-KS 23 18 -21.7% 30 85
74 Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ 35 18 -48.6% 53 73
76 New Haven-Meriden, CT 26 19 -26.9% 39 84
77 Pittsburgh, PA 43 20 -53.5% 69 68
77 Nashville, TN 55 20 -63.6% 79 56
79 Richmond-Petersburg, VA 37 21 -43.2% 59 77
80 New York, NY 57 23 -59.6% 82 60
81 Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 43 26 -39.5% 69 81
81 Atlanta, GA 44 26 -40.9% 71 79
83 Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV 56 28 -50.0% 80 70
84 Baltimore, MD 60 30 -50.0% 84 70
85 Philadelphia, PA-NJ 53 32 -39.6% 78 80
86 Knoxville, TN 33 36 9.1% 51 90
87 Ventura, CA 108 44 -59.3% 87 62
88 Houston, TX 72 47 -34.7% 85 83
89 Fresno, CA 110 50 -54.5% 88 67
90 Bakersfield, CA 126 55 -56.3% 90 65
91 Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA 239 63 -73.6% 92 40
92 Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 185 106 -42.7% 91 78
  Total 5,299 3,137 -40.8%    
NOTES: The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) integrates information on 5 major pollutants (particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide) across an entire monitoring network into a single number that represents the worst daily air quality experienced in an urban area. A PSI greater than 100 indicates that at least 1 criteria pollutant exceeded air quality standards on a given day; therefore, air quality would be in the unhealthful range on that day. In 1997, 4,738 monitoring sites reported air quality data. Air quality monitoring sites are selected as "trend sites" if they have complete data for at least 8 of the 10 years between 1988 and 1997. This table has been substantially revised from last year.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, National Air Quality and Emissions Trends Report, 1997 (Research Triangle Park, NC: 1999), Table A-15.

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