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
Current or fallback AQI
AQI 36
Category
Good
24-hour equivalent
0.39
Updated Apr 15, 3:24 PM 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.
San Francisco
Bay Area
Current or fallback AQI
AQI 37
Category
Good
24-hour equivalent
0.4
Updated Apr 15, 3:24 PM 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.
What changes for planning
Cleaner right now
Los Angeles
Heavier 24h exposure
San Francisco
Daily cigarette-equivalent gap
0
Los Angeles: Forecast planning snapshot
2026-04-15
AQI 53
Moderate
San Francisco: Forecast planning snapshot
2026-04-15
AQI 35
Good
2026-04-16
AQI 39
Good