City AQI Comparison

Los Angeles vs San Francisco: AQI comparison and planning guide

Compare Los Angeles and San Francisco by current-or-fallback AQI, cigarette-equivalent exposure, and practical next steps.

Uses live AirNow readings where supported and falls back to each city's planning baseline when the API is unavailable or unsupported.

Los Angeles

Southern California

Using live AQI

Current or fallback AQI

AQI 56

Category

Moderate

Berkeley Earth 24-hour comparison

0.54

Updated Aug 24, 12:15 AM UTC

Shift hard workouts to cleaner hours or indoor spaces.
Limit unnecessary exposure for children and sensitive groups.
Keep a mask and indoor-air plan ready if readings continue rising.
Open Los Angeles city guideCalculate Los Angeles at AQI 56

San Francisco

Bay Area

Using live AQI

Current or fallback AQI

AQI 39

Category

Good

Berkeley Earth 24-hour comparison

0.32

Updated Aug 24, 12:15 AM UTC

Proceed with normal outdoor activity.
Use the day to ventilate and prepare before worse conditions arrive.
Check tomorrow's forecast if wildfire smoke or inversion is developing.
Open San Francisco city guideCalculate San Francisco at AQI 39

What changes for planning

Cleaner right now

San Francisco

Heavier 24h exposure

Los Angeles

Daily cigarette-equivalent gap

0.2

Los Angeles: Forecast planning snapshot

2026-08-24

AQI 58

Moderate

San Francisco: Forecast planning snapshot

2026-08-24

AQI 53

Moderate

2026-08-25

AQI -1

Good

Compare city AQI pages with real utility

These comparison pages show which city looks cleaner right now, how much the daily dose gap changes, and what that means for immediate planning.

New York City vs Seattle

Compare New York City and Seattle by current-or-fallback AQI, cigarette-equivalent exposure, and practical next steps.

Delhi vs Beijing

Compare Delhi and Beijing by current-or-fallback AQI, cigarette-equivalent exposure, and practical next steps.