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 55

Category

Moderate

24-hour equivalent

0.64

Updated May 2, 12:57 PM 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.

San Francisco

Bay Area

Using live AQI

Current or fallback AQI

AQI 51

Category

Moderate

24-hour equivalent

0.55

Updated May 2, 12:57 PM 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.

What changes for planning

Cleaner right now

San Francisco

Heavier 24h exposure

Los Angeles

Daily cigarette-equivalent gap

0.1

Los Angeles: Forecast planning snapshot

2026-05-02

AQI 60

Moderate

San Francisco: Forecast planning snapshot

2026-05-02

AQI 50

Good

2026-05-03

AQI 44

Good