Air quality in January: cleanest & most polluted destinations

Where the air is cleanest — and worst — to travel in January, ranked by the monthly-mean US Air Quality Index (AQI) across 600+ destinations. Lower is better: 0–50 is good, 100+ starts to bite, 150+ is unhealthy. Tap any place for its full January weather and air-quality breakdown.

Worst air quality in January

  1. 1Lahore 🇵🇰 PakistanVery unhealthy201
  2. 2Amritsar 🇮🇳 IndiaUnhealthy190
  3. 3Delhi 🇮🇳 IndiaUnhealthy186
  4. 4Agra 🇮🇳 IndiaUnhealthy186
  5. 5Kolkata 🇮🇳 IndiaUnhealthy184
  6. 6Varanasi 🇮🇳 IndiaUnhealthy176
  7. 7Dhaka 🇧🇩 BangladeshUnhealthy170
  8. 8Dakhla Western SaharaUnhealthy170
  9. 9Srinagar 🇮🇳 IndiaUnhealthy169
  10. 10Beijing 🇨🇳 ChinaUnhealthy169
  11. 11Sundarbans 🇧🇩 BangladeshUnhealthy166
  12. 12Mumbai 🇮🇳 IndiaUnhealthy159
  13. 13Chengdu 🇨🇳 ChinaUnhealthy157
  14. 14Ürümqi 🇨🇳 ChinaUnhealthy156
  15. 15Xi'an 🇨🇳 ChinaUnhealthy154

Cleanest air in January

  1. 1Farellones 🇨🇱 ChileGood11
  2. 2Honiara 🇸🇧 Solomon IslandsGood11
  3. 3Puerto Natales 🇨🇱 ChileGood11
  4. 4Torres del Paine 🇨🇱 ChileGood11
  5. 5El Calafate 🇦🇷 ArgentinaGood12
  6. 6El Chaltén 🇦🇷 ArgentinaGood12
  7. 7Ushuaia 🇦🇷 ArgentinaGood12
  8. 8Nadi 🇫🇯 FijiGood13
  9. 9Punta Arenas 🇨🇱 ChileGood14
  10. 10Tongariro 🇳🇿 New ZealandGood14
  11. 11Cradle Mountain 🇦🇺 AustraliaGood15
  12. 12Lake Tekapo 🇳🇿 New ZealandGood15
  13. 13Queenstown 🇳🇿 New ZealandGood15
  14. 14Te Anau 🇳🇿 New ZealandGood15
  15. 15Wānaka 🇳🇿 New ZealandGood15