World City rankings
Dirties Cities in the World
Kathmandu has the highest Pollution Index in 2026 (95.7), followed by Tetovo (95.6) and Faridabad (94.5). Rio de Janeiro has the lowest (67.7).
94 of 1,103 cities
Pollution Index, 2026
Green is better, red is worse (lower is better). Click a place to highlight it.
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Ranking
Best first: the first 15 and last 5 of 94 cities.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one city; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
78.7
Middle half 71.8 – 87.2
Average
79.8
94 cities
Lowest (best)
67.7
Rio de Janeiro
Highest (worst)
95.7
Kathmandu
Over time · 2024–2026
The top 5 in 2026, against the median.
- Median of all cities
- Rio de Janeiro
- Turin
- Milan
- Sofia
- Guangzhou
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
135 cities · # = rank by Pollution Index
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Rio de Janeiro | 67.7 | 119.2 | — |
| 2 |  Turin | 67.8 | 129.0 | — |
| 3 | Milan | 67.9 | 127.0 | — |
| 3 |  Sofia | 67.9 | 126.8 | — |
| 5 |  Guangzhou | 68.1 | 118.9 | — |
| 6 | Shanghai | 68.3 | 119.8 | — |
| 7 |  Bandung | 68.5 | 119.0 | — |
| 8 |  Belgrade | 69.2 | 124.0 | — |
| 9 |  Haifa | 69.3 | 127.1 | — |
| 10 |  Yekaterinburg | 69.4 | 120.5 | — |
| 11 |  Krakow | 69.8 | 136.9 | — |
| 12 |  Bogota | 69.9 | 129.2 | — |
| 13 |  Makati | 70.0 | 123.3 | — |
| 14 |  Kochi | 70.6 | 123.2 | — |
| 15 |  Santiago | 70.7 | 135.2 | — |
| 15 |  Kingston | 70.7 | 124.3 | — |
| 17 |  Guayaquil | 70.9 | 124.3 | — |
| 18 | Chengdu | 71.0 | 128.2 | — |
| 19 | Pune | 71.1 | 123.9 | — |
| 19 |  Kuwait City | 71.1 | 126.1 | — |
| 21 | Vijayawada | 71.2 | 124.7 | — |
| 22 |  Monterrey | 71.3 | 130.8 | — |
| 23 | Baguio | 71.6 | 128.1 | — |
| 24 |  Tbilisi | 71.8 | 131.1 | — |
| 25 | Ahmedabad | 71.9 | 125.7 | — |
| 26 |  Marseille | 72.3 | 132.4 | — |
| 27 |  Caracas | 72.5 | 128.0 | — |
| 28 | Belgaum | 73.1 | 129.9 | — |
| 29 |  Alexandria | 73.8 | 129.6 | — |
| 30 |  Tunis | 74.0 | 129.8 | — |
| 31 | Chennai | 74.1 | 129.4 | — |
| 31 |  Baku | 74.1 | 129.8 | — |
| 33 |  Addis Ababa | 75.2 | 131.7 | — |
| 34 |  Bucharest | 75.4 | 135.0 | — |
| 35 |  Bishkek | 75.6 | 142.2 | — |
| 36 | Guwahati | 75.8 | 133.7 | — |
| 37 | Hyderabad | 75.9 | 133.0 | — |
| 38 | Brescia | 76.3 | 138.5 | — |
| 39 |  Amman | 76.9 | 135.2 | — |
| 40 | Beijing | 77.2 | 136.4 | — |
| 40 |  Phnom Penh | 77.2 | 136.8 | — |
| 42 |  Santo Domingo | 77.4 | 136.7 | — |
| 43 |  Bangkok | 77.7 | 137.9 | — |
| 44 | Chiang Mai | 77.8 | 141.6 | — |
| 45 | Lucknow | 77.9 | 138.6 | 52.4 µg/m³ |
| 46 | Kolkata | 78.3 | 138.7 | 51.0 µg/m³ |
| 47 | Naples | 78.5 | 140.4 | — |
| 48 |  Almaty | 78.8 | 148.9 | — |
| 49 |  Lahore | 78.9 | 141.8 | 88.9 µg/m³ |
| 50 | Sao Paulo | 79.4 | 142.2 | — |
| 51 |  Nairobi | 79.8 | 142.3 | — |
| 52 |  Tehran | 80.3 | 151.7 | — |
| 52 | Mexico City | 80.3 | 144.8 | — |
| 54 | Jalandhar | 80.5 | 143.3 | — |
| 55 |  Casablanca | 82.1 | 146.3 | — |
| 55 |  Harare | 82.1 | 146.8 | — |
| 57 | Meerut | 82.3 | 146.2 | 61.8 µg/m³ |
| 58 | Gwalior | 83.0 | 147.4 | 50.5 µg/m³ |
| 58 |  Skopje | 83.0 | 157.0 | — |
| 60 | Mumbai | 83.2 | 148.0 | — |
| 61 | Quezon City | 83.4 | 149.4 | — |
| 62 | Krasnoyarsk | 83.8 | 161.2 | — |
| 63 | Amritsar | 84.3 | 150.5 | — |
| 63 | Cebu | 84.3 | 150.6 | — |
| 65 |  Lima | 84.4 | 151.0 | — |
| 66 |  Taichung | 85.1 | 152.7 | — |
| 66 | Chelyabinsk | 85.1 | 153.3 | — |
| 68 | Jakarta | 85.2 | 152.4 | — |
| 69 |  Tirana | 87.0 | 155.5 | — |
| 70 | Ludhiana | 87.1 | 156.9 | 52.8 µg/m³ |
| 71 | Raipur | 87.2 | 157.4 | — |
| 72 | Varanasi | 87.7 | 156.8 | — |
| 73 | Kanpur | 88.3 | 158.5 | — |
| 74 |  Lagos | 88.5 | 158.0 | — |
| 75 | Allahabad | 88.9 | 160.8 | — |
| 76 |  Accra | 89.2 | 160.3 | — |
| 77 |  Hanoi | 89.3 | 161.8 | — |
| 77 | Patna | 89.3 | 162.4 | 54.8 µg/m³ |
| 79 | Manila | 89.5 | 161.5 | — |
| 80 | Karachi | 89.6 | 160.3 | — |
| 81 |  Kabul | 89.7 | 161.2 | — |
| 82 | Delhi | 90.3 | 164.6 | 99.6 µg/m³ |
| 83 | Cairo | 90.6 | 163.3 | — |
| 84 | Gurgaon | 90.8 | 164.4 | — |
| 85 |  Yangon | 90.9 | 164.0 | — |
| 86 | Noida | 91.2 | 166.5 | 80.5 µg/m³ |
| 87 | Ghaziabad | 91.8 | 166.0 | 82.2 µg/m³ |
| 88 | Ho Chi Minh City | 92.1 | 166.9 | — |
| 89 |  Beirut | 93.7 | 168.7 | — |
| 90 |  Dhaka | 94.2 | 170.4 | 68.0 µg/m³ |
| 91 |  Ulaanbaatar | 94.4 | 174.1 | — |
| 92 | Faridabad | 94.5 | 171.0 | — |
| 93 | Tetovo | 95.6 | 174.3 | — |
| 94 |  Kathmandu | 95.7 | 173.6 | — |
| — |  Kinshasa | — | — | 50.2 µg/m³ |
| — | Jaipur | — | — | 50.7 µg/m³ |
| — | Faisalabad | — | — | 98.8 µg/m³ |
| — | Rawalpindi | — | — | 49.1 µg/m³ |
| — | Visakhapatnam | — | — | 51.8 µg/m³ |
| — | Multan | — | — | 71.1 µg/m³ |
| — | Peshawar | — | — | 81.7 µg/m³ |
| — | Aurangabad | — | — | 53.0 µg/m³ |
| — | Srinagar | — | — | 48.4 µg/m³ |
| — | Kota | — | — | 47.9 µg/m³ |
| — | Bac Ninh | — | — | 48.7 µg/m³ |
| — | Asansol | — | — | 52.2 µg/m³ |
| — | Chandigarh | — | — | 54.3 µg/m³ |
| — | Thai Nguyen | — | — | 56.4 µg/m³ |
| — |  Dushanbe | — | — | 57.3 µg/m³ |
| — | Islamabad | — | — | 48.3 µg/m³ |
| — | Sialkot | — | — | 78.6 µg/m³ |
| — | Bahawalpur | — | — | 67.7 µg/m³ |
| — | Muzaffarnagar | — | — | 69.1 µg/m³ |
| — | Cuttack | — | — | 47.3 µg/m³ |
| — | Durgapur | — | — | 53.6 µg/m³ |
| — | Khulna | — | — | 52.7 µg/m³ |
| — | Jhang | — | — | 63.6 µg/m³ |
| — | Sukkur | — | — | 88.6 µg/m³ |
| — | Begusarai | — | — | 48.3 µg/m³ |
| — | Sikar | — | — | 47.9 µg/m³ |
| — | Hapur | — | — | 67.7 µg/m³ |
| — | Bulandshahr | — | — | 64.5 µg/m³ |
| — | Vapi | — | — | 48.6 µg/m³ |
| — |  Fergana | — | — | 68.8 µg/m³ |
| — | Pali | — | — | 57.7 µg/m³ |
| — | Mirpur Khas | — | — | 57.7 µg/m³ |
| — | Singrauli | — | — | 62.9 µg/m³ |
| — | Haldia | — | — | 47.5 µg/m³ |
| — | Mandi Bahauddin | — | — | 74.4 µg/m³ |
| — | Tonk | — | — | 49.6 µg/m³ |
| — | Chittoor | — | — | 48.3 µg/m³ |
| — |  Igdir | — | — | 64.4 µg/m³ |
| — | Hanumangarh | — | — | 49.6 µg/m³ |
| — | Lodhran | — | — | 85.3 µg/m³ |
| — | Pattoki | — | — | 86.7 µg/m³ |
What correlates with Pollution Index (2026)?
Pearson r against 12 other city metrics sharing at least 57 cities. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Pollution Index tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Pollution Index tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
Quick answers
- Which world city has the highest Pollution Index?
- Kathmandu has the highest Pollution Index in 2026, at 95.7, followed by Tetovo (95.6) and Faridabad (94.5).
- Which world city has the lowest Pollution Index?
- Rio de Janeiro has the lowest Pollution Index in 2026, at 67.7.
- What is the median Pollution Index across world cities?
- The median is 78.7 across the 94 world cities with data in 2026.
- Where does this dirties cities in the world data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: World's most polluted cities - IQAir; Pollution Index by City 2026 - Numbeo. Last updated 2026-10-28.
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