Data:Â IQAir; Note: Among cities with at least 500k metro-area residents; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios
Last year’s wildfire season made air quality worse in cities across the country — but not in Utah.
The latest: In 2023, Salt Lake had the 11th-lowest average particulate matter levels, known as PM2.5, of 103 cities reviewed by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company.
- Ogden was 9th-lowest and Provo was 12th.
Yes, but: All three cities exceeded levels recommended by the World Health Organization.
The big picture: It’s not coincidental that the cities with the worst air quality last year were in the Upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, as those regions were smothered in smoke from Canada’s unprecedented wildfire season.
The intrigue: Winter inversion still packed a punch last year, with February’s air pollution more than three times the WHO’s recommended maximum.
