City AQI Comparison

New York City vs Seattle: AQI comparison and planning guide

Compare New York City and Seattle 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.

New York City

Northeast Corridor

Using live AQI

Current or fallback AQI

AQI 56

Category

Moderate

24-hour equivalent

0.66

Updated Apr 15, 3:24 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.

Seattle

Pacific Northwest

Using live AQI

Current or fallback AQI

AQI 46

Category

Good

24-hour equivalent

0.5

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

Seattle

Heavier 24h exposure

New York City

Daily cigarette-equivalent gap

0.2

New York City: Forecast planning snapshot

2026-04-15

AQI 55

Moderate

2026-04-16

AQI 55

Moderate

Seattle: Forecast planning snapshot

2026-04-15

AQI 28

Good

2026-04-16

AQI 28

Good