U.S. Cities With the Worst Air

A report released today, the 2009 State of the Air report by the American Lung Association highlights the U.S. cities with the worst air quality. The report ranks metropolitan areas by the levels of ozone and particle pollution during 2005, 2006 and 2007 using data found in monitoring sites across the United States and data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to this report, the following cities are the top 10 most polluted in the U.S. (with Los Angeles earning top honors – or bad honors I suppose):

1. Los Angeles
2. Bakersfield
3. Visalia
4. Fresno
5. Houston
6. Sacramento
7. Dallas-Fort Worth
8. Charlotte
9. Phoenix
10. El Centro

The report doesn’t recognize top honors among cleanest cities because all the cities on the list scored the same. I.E the clean cities are simply clean, they’re not ranked.

• Billings
• Carson City
• Coeur d’Alene
• Fargo
• Honolulu
• Laredo
• Lincoln
• Port St. Lucie
• Sioux Falls

County rankings and cleanest county lists are also available in the full report. To view data from the new report you need to fill out a short form (name and email) at the American Lung Association.

The info here, by the way slightly differs from some other air quality reports. Not substantially though. Regionally, some places are simply worse to live in when it comes to breathing. To see other data about air quality in the U.S. visit one of the following:

• 10 least polluted areas in the U.S.
• Top 25 Towns for Clean Air, Dirty Air
• The 25 Most Polluted Regions in the United States
• 15 Green Cities – not pollution specifically but a green overview.
• The AirData Web site – offers a total overview of air info.

[image via stock.xchng]