Air quality in United States
Air quality in Iowa today
Updated
Good: average US AQI 42 across 5 cities in Iowa Worst now: Des Moines (52); cleanest: Waterloo, IA (35).
Live US AQI, PM2.5 and ozone for cities across Iowa, compared with the United States average.
- Average US AQI
- 42 Good
- United States average
- 53 619 cities
- Most polluted now
- Des Moines AQI 52
- Cleanest now
- Waterloo, IA AQI 35
- Cities above 100
- 0
Air quality in Iowa today
Right now the modelled air quality in Iowa averages a US AQI of 42 (Good) across the 5 cities we track. By category: 3 Good, 2 Moderate (of 5).
That is 11 points cleaner than the United States average of 53, ranking 19 of 51 states from cleanest to most polluted.
Des Moines has the worst air at 52 (PM2.5 27 µg/m³), and Waterloo, IA the cleanest at 35. No tracked city is above 100, so no group needs to change plans.
Iowa cities by AQI (most polluted first)
| City | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines | 52 | Moderate | 26.5 | 27 | 24 |
| Ames | 52 | Moderate | 14.3 | 14 | 43 |
| Marion | 37 | Good | 11.9 | 12 | 46 |
| Davenport | 36 | Good | 10.1 | 10 | 38 |
| Waterloo | 35 | Good | 14.1 | 14 | 51 |
What the US AQI numbers mean
| US AQI | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0-50 | Good | Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. |
| 51-100 | Moderate | Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 101-150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 151-200 | Unhealthy | Everyone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed. |
| 201-300 | Very Unhealthy | Health alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors. |
| 301-500 | Hazardous | Emergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500. |
Modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) via Open-Meteo, refreshed twice a day; read hour by hour from the forecast.
Cities in Iowa
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Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).