When considering moving to a new city or a new state, people rarely consider the air quality and the number of pollutants found in the air. Air quality can be reduced due to a variety of factors such as transportation, coal-fired power plants, industrial activity, and other human-perpetuated activity. It may also be affected by natural factors such as dust storms and wildfires. In the United States, the following cities are considered to be the safest in terms of air quality.

1. Burlington, Vermont
Vermont is considered to be one of the cleanest states in the country. Especially in the city of Burlington, the air quality is considered to be really good. The city has recorded zero days of unhealthy ozone levels in 2019. The amount of year-round pollution and short-term pollution recorded in this city is also considered to be quite low, and the city is constantly working on getting these numbers even lower.

2. Springfield, Massachusetts
Due to certain strict regulations maintained by the city, Springfield in Massachusetts has really clean and healthy air. Certain mandated restrictions such as anti-idling laws are effective in minimizing the amount of man-made pollutants that fill the air, making their air cleaner and healthier to breathe.

3. Williston, North Dakota
The city of Williston is regularly subjected to natural disasters such as wildfires which result in a lot of smog, dust, as well as smoky and hazy air. The particulate matter in the air after such disasters can be quite harmful to the lungs. However, aside from these instances, the air quality of the city throughout the year as maintained by the population of the city is quite admirable. This is because of the constant winds that flow through the city, drawing out all the dust and pollutants from the air.

4. Winchester, Virginia
The air quality of West Virginia is known for being extremely good. However, there has been some deterioration in the air quality due to the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which largely puts the Shenandoah Valley area at risk of being polluted. This issue might be slightly resolved with the current Biden administration that has put a new EPA administrator in place, who will be working on regulating automobiles, power plants, and mercury emissions in the city.

5. Rochester, New York
While previously the city of Rochester was known for having poor-quality air due to the coal-burning power plants present in the city and other stationary sources, the city has since taken several precautionary measures such as putting cars with cleaner tailpipe emissions on the road. Due to these precautionary measures, the city had only one day of higher-than-normal ozone pollution between 2013 to 2015.

6. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
While we all expect the rural regions of Hawaii to have cleaner air due to a large number of trees and vegetation growing there, urban areas such as Honolulu are not that far behind. In 2019, it was noted that the city of Honolulu recorded the lowest amount of annual average particle pollution so far.