Explore the 85 cities with the cleanest air, ranked by the fine particles (PM2.5) measured near each one, with their haze seasons.
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Looking for the cities with the cleanest air in the world? This free finder ranks 85 cities and islands by the fine particles (PM2.5) measured at the air quality stations near each one, month by month.
In this guide, I'll show you:
- What the city with the cleanest air is, and who this is for
- The 20 cleanest places, with their cleanest and haziest months
- The cleanest places in each region
- The haze and smoke seasons to plan around
- How the air is measured
Open any place for its air by month, with the stations it comes from, and the rest of its guide.
TL;DRKey takeaways
What is the city with the cleanest air?
Of these places, Alicante has the cleanest air, with about 3 µg/m³ of fine particles (PM2.5) over a year, within the WHO guideline.
PM2.5 are particles under 2.5 micrometers across, from traffic, industry, fires and dust. They're small enough to reach deep into the lungs, which is why the WHO sets its tightest guideline for them.
Who is the cleanest air finder for?
It's for anyone who weighs the air when choosing where to live or stay:
- Digital nomad locations – nomads weighing air against weather, cost and internet
- Climate finder – anyone matching clean air with the right weather
- Visa-free countries – travelers checking how long they can stay once they've picked a place
- Country finder – people moving abroad for good, comparing whole countries
The air changes by season and by street, so check the month you'd be there.
The 20 cleanest places
Here are the places with the lowest PM2.5 over a year, from the stations within 25 km of each one:
Alicante- PM2.5 over a year
- 3 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- May
- Haziest month
- August
Funchal, Madeira- PM2.5 over a year
- 4 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- March
- Haziest month
- December
Tallinn- PM2.5 over a year
- 4 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- December
- Haziest month
- February
Honolulu- PM2.5 over a year
- 4 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- September
- Haziest month
- January
Reykjavík- PM2.5 over a year
- 4 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- August
- Haziest month
- October
Stockholm- PM2.5 over a year
- 4 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- May
- Haziest month
- March
Edinburgh- PM2.5 over a year
- 4 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- November
- Haziest month
- May
Vancouver- PM2.5 over a year
- 5 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- March
- Haziest month
- August
Gold Coast- PM2.5 over a year
- 5 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- May
- Haziest month
- October
Helsinki- PM2.5 over a year
- 6 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- October
- Haziest month
- March
Brisbane- PM2.5 over a year
- 6 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- April
- Haziest month
- September
Seattle- PM2.5 over a year
- 7 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- May
- Haziest month
- January
Denver- PM2.5 over a year
- 7 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- December
- Haziest month
- February
San Francisco- PM2.5 over a year
- 7 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- March
- Haziest month
- December
Cork- PM2.5 over a year
- 7 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- July
- Haziest month
- January
Dublin- PM2.5 over a year
- 7 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- July
- Haziest month
- March
Lisbon- PM2.5 over a year
- 7 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- July
- Haziest month
- January
Montreal- PM2.5 over a year
- 8 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- April
- Haziest month
- June
Tarifa- PM2.5 over a year
- 8 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- May
- Haziest month
- January
Ericeira- PM2.5 over a year
- 8 µg/m³
- Cleanest month
- November
- Haziest month
- January
A place gets a figure only when a station near it allows its data to be used this way, so some cities aren't ranked yet.
The cleanest places by region
Here are the three cleanest places in each region, by the same stations:
- Europe – Alicante (3 µg/m³), Funchal, Madeira (4 µg/m³), Tallinn (4 µg/m³)
- Asia – Kyoto (9 µg/m³), Osaka (10 µg/m³), Tokyo (10 µg/m³)
- Latin America – San Juan, Puerto Rico (12 µg/m³), São Paulo (13 µg/m³), San Miguel de Allende (14 µg/m³)
- North America – Honolulu (4 µg/m³), Vancouver (5 µg/m³), Seattle (7 µg/m³)
- Africa – Kigali (45 µg/m³)
- Oceania – Gold Coast (5 µg/m³), Brisbane (6 µg/m³)
Each place's guide shows its air for every month.
Haze and smoke seasons to plan around
These places have one stretch of the year when the air gets much worse, at least twice their cleanest month:
- Kathmandu – about 94 µg/m³ in April, against 15 in August
- Kigali – about 76 µg/m³ in July, against 26 in November
- Hanoi – about 68 µg/m³ in January, against 25 in July
- Guadalajara – about 56 µg/m³ in October, against 16 in July
- Belgrade – about 41 µg/m³ in December, against 11 in August
- Kuala Lumpur – about 39 µg/m³ in October, against 7 in December
- Milan – about 38 µg/m³ in February, against 8 in May
- Colombo – about 34 µg/m³ in February, against 10 in September
- Thessaloniki – about 31 µg/m³ in January, against 10 in May
- Cluj-Napoca – about 30 µg/m³ in February, against 8 in May
Pick that month in the finder to see the difference, or plan a trip around it.
How the air is measured
Every figure comes from OpenAQ, an open archive of air quality stations around the world.
For each place, I take the nearest three government monitors within 25 km, and only stations whose data license allows this use.
Each month is that station's average since 2023, and a place's figure is the middle of its stations.
Only places with government monitors are ranked. Places with just low-cost sensors nearby show their air on their own page, as those sensors read less precisely, often high in humid air.
Where the numbers come from
Every figure comes from an open source, and each place's page names its own:
- Weather – NOAA's monthly station summaries where a station is close, IDEAM's normals for Medellín, and NASA POWER's climate averages elsewhere
- Internet – M-Lab's open speed tests within 25 km of each place over the last 12 months
- Everyday prices – the World Bank's price level for the country, where 100% means US prices
- Safety – the US State Department's travel advisory level, with Levels 1 and 2 both counting as everyday travel
- Air – fine particles (PM2.5) from OpenAQ's open air quality data, the stations within 25 km whose license allows commercial use, each month's average since 2023
The videos and photos come from Pexels, Coverr, Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons, each credited on its place.
More ways to find your next place
These tools use the same places and data, each for a different question:
- Digital nomad locations – every place, with your own picks for the month
- Climate finder – where the weather is right in any month
- Best places to travel right now – this month's best places
- Fastest internet cities – the places ranked by M-Lab's speed tests
- Best value cities – the most livable places for what life costs
- Most livable cities – weather all year, safety and internet
- Random travel destination generator – one place, picked for you
- Visa-free countries – how long your passport lets you stay
- Internet speed test – your own line, on the same M-Lab test
Every place links to its own guide, with the weather by month, the internet and the visa, tax and money tools for its country.
Cleanest air cities FAQs
Questions about it? Here's what to know.
Of these 85 places, Alicante has the cleanest air, at about 3 µg/m³ of PM2.5 over a year.
The figures come from the air quality stations nearest each place.
PM2.5 is the fine particles in the air, under 2.5 micrometers across, from traffic, industry, fires and dust.
They're measured in micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³).
The WHO's 2021 guideline is 5 µg/m³ averaged over a year, and 15 µg/m³ over a day.
It also sets interim targets of 10, 15, 25 and 35 for places working toward the guideline.
Heating in winter, farm burning, wildfires and dry-season dust all raise PM2.5 at certain times of year.
Pick a month in the finder to see each place's air then.
A place needs a station within 25 km whose data license allows this use, with a year of readings.
Some countries' stations don't carry an open license yet, so their cities aren't ranked.
From OpenAQ, an open archive of government monitors and low-cost sensors.
Each place's page names its stations, their owners and their licenses.
I did. I'm Navid Moazzez, and the cleanest air finder is one of my free tools on navid.me.
Read about me, or see my creator profile.
Navid Moazzez
AI business strategist & AI OS builder
Navid Moazzez helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life.
Navid.me is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this site, I may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
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