Sneeziest and Wheeziest Cities 2014

View a list of the top Asthma Capitals that are also in ragweed-positive and eight-hour ozone exceedance — positive areas in the continental United States. Thirty-four out of the top 50 that meet these criteria, plus Richmond, Virginia, are displayed below:

City of Metro

County

State

Population (2010)

Mean number of exceedances of 2008 8-hour standard (2009–2013)

Asthma Capital Rank
Richmond Richmond City Virgina 204,215 n/a 1
Memphis Shelby Tennessee 927,644 4.3 2
Oklahoma City Oklahoma Oklahoma 718,633 6.7 4
Philadelphia Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1,526,006 5.5 5
Chattanooga Hamilton Tennesse 336,463 2.3 6
Chicago Cook Illinois 5,194,675 2.6 9
Detroit Wayne Michigan 1,820,584 4.5 10
New Haven New Haven Connecticut 862,477 4.6 11
Allentown Lehigh Pennsylvania 349,497 4.2 12
Atlanta Fulton Georgia 920,581 8.2 13
Pittsburgh Allegheny Pennsylvania 1,223,348 4.9 15
Louisville Jefferson Kentucky 741,096 4.0 16
Springfield Hampden Massachusetts 463,490 2.2 18
Milwaukee Milwaukee Wisconsin 947,735 3.6 19
Dayton Montgomery Ohio 535,153 5.4 21
Cleveland Cuyahoga Ohio 1,280,122 3.9 23
Toledo Lucas Ohio 441,815 1.9 25
Little Rock Pulaski Arkansas 382,748 2.7 27
Bridgeport Fairfield Connecticut 916,829 7.9 28
Akron Summit Ohio 541,781 2.2 31
Indianapolis Marion Indiana 903,393 1.8 32
Providence Providence Rhode Island 626,667 4.0 33
Cincinnati Hamilton Ohio 802,374 6.5 34
Wichita Sedgwick Kansas 498,365 3.7 35
Harrisburg Dauphin Pennsylvania 268,100 2.6 37
Nashville Davidson Tennessee 626,681 1.4 38
Hartford Hartford Connecticut 894,014 3.6 39
Phoenix Maricopa Arizona 3,817,117 2.6 40
Knoxville Knox Tennessee 432,226 1.8 41
Jackson Hinds Mississippi 245,285 1.0 42
Dallas Dallas Texas 2,368,139 7.6 43
Los Angeles Los Angeles California 9,818,605 15.6 44
Youngstown Mahoning Ohio 238,823 1.8 45
Columbus Franklin Ohio 1,163,414 3.0 46
Orlando Orange Flordia 1,145,956 1.3 49

Source: Natural Resources Defense Council Sneezing and Wheezing Report, May 2015

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