Best Cities for Air Quality in Nebraska
Ranking of cities with the cleanest air in Nebraska based on AQI data.
Cleanest air in Nebraska: Omaha
Of the 1 Nebraska metro area EPA published a full year of AQI data for in 2025, Omaha recorded the highest share of Good-air days: 227 of 365 monitored days (62.2%) at AQI 50 or below, with a median AQI of 44 and 3 days above AQI 100. Its peak reading that year was AQI 137. The pollutant that set the daily AQI most often was fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (179 days).
| # | City (EPA area) | Good days (2025) | Median AQI | Days over 100 | Peak AQI | AQI now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OmahaOmaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | 227 / 365 (62.2%) | 44 | 3 | 137 | 26 |
| — | LincolnLincoln, NE | 240 / 281 (85.4%) | 37 | 0 | 87 | 12 |
Figures are EPA's published annual AQI summaries by metropolitan area (Annual AQI by CBSA, 2019–2025), retrieved 2026-09-07. The daily AQI EPA summarises is the highest value any monitor in the area reported that day, so these are metro-area readings, not statewide or rural ones. Unranked row: EPA reported fewer than 300 days for Lincoln in 2025, and a partial year cannot be compared fairly against a full one.
Omaha's air quality year by year
One clean year can be luck — a mild summer, no wildfire smoke. This is every year EPA has published for the Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA area, so you can see whether Omaha's ranking is durable.
| Year | Days measured | Good days | Median AQI | Days over 100 | Days over 150 | Peak AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 365 | 231 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 97 | fine particulate matter (PM2.5) |
| 2020 | 366 | 223 | 47 | 2 | 1 | 157 | fine particulate matter (PM2.5) |
| 2021 | 365 | 212 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 150 | fine particulate matter (PM2.5) |
| 2022 | 365 | 243 | 44 | 1 | 0 | 108 | ground-level ozone |
| 2023 | 365 | 184 | 50 | 25 | 2 | 169 | ground-level ozone |
| 2024 | 366 | 187 | 50 | 2 | 0 | 110 | fine particulate matter (PM2.5) |
| 2025 | 365 | 227 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 137 | fine particulate matter (PM2.5) |
Across 2019–2025, Omaha's air worsened: the area's median AQI held near 47 and days above AQI 100 rose from about 2 to 10 per year (comparing the earlier and later halves of the period).
How Nebraska compares
Ranked by the median of its metro areas' median AQI in 2025, Nebraska is #20 cleanest of the 51 states EPA publishes metro AQI data for, at a median AQI of 44. The cleanest state on that measure is Alaska; the most polluted is Arizona. See the full state air quality rankings.
What this ranking does and does not cover
We track 2 Nebraska cities. 1 has a full 2025 EPA record and is ranked above. 1 has a partial year and is listed without a rank.
EPA's AQI is reported by metropolitan area, and the daily value is the worst reading from any monitor in that area. Rural Nebraska — and any town without a regulatory monitor — is not represented here. A high Good-day share means the monitored metro air was clean on most days; it is not a statement about a specific street, and it does not capture short pollution spikes between the daily summaries.