Atlanta air quality
Georgia, United States · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sat 8:00 PM local time
Moderate
Acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should ease off long, intense outdoor effort.
- Next 24 hours
- 35–79US AQI, highest around Sun 7:00 PM
- Best time outside
- Sun 4:00 AM–7:00 AMUS AQI about 35
- PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
- 0.6×8.9 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
- Cigarette equivalent
- ≈ 0.4 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
- European AQI
- Fairlevel 2 of 6
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Pollutants in Atlanta right now
| Pollutant | Now | Next 24 h vs WHO | US AQI band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine particles (PM2.5) | 6.4 µg/m³ | 0.6× | Good |
| Coarse particles (PM10) | 6.4 µg/m³ | 0.2× | Good |
| Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) | 11 µg/m³ | 0.4× | Good |
| Ozone (O3) | 93 µg/m³ | 1.3× | Good |
| Sulphur dioxide (SO2) | 1.5 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 172 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Desert dust | 0 µg/m³ | ||
| Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth) | 0.09 | ||
| UV index | 0.0 |
“Next 24 h vs WHO” compares the forecast with the World Health Organization’s 2021 guideline levels: 24-hour means of 15 µg/m³ for PM2.5, 45 for PM10, 25 for NO2, 40 for SO2 and 4 mg/m³ for CO, and 100 µg/m³ over 8 hours for ozone. Above 1× is above the guideline.
Next 48 hours
Hourly US AQI. Highest 96 around Mon 7:00 PM, lowest 35 around Sun 4:00 AM.
5-day air quality forecast for Atlanta
Daily range of the hourly US AQI, from lowest to highest, on a scale of 0 to 150.
| Day | US AQI | At worst | PM2.5 avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Sep 26 | 42–72 | 6.5 | ||
| Sun, Sep 27 | 35–80 | 9.5 | ||
| Mon, Sep 28 | 51–99 | 12 | ||
| Tue, Sep 29 | 55–112 | 15 | ||
| Wed, Sep 30 | 61–108 | 14 |
Common questions about the air in Atlanta
Is the air in Atlanta safe today?
For most people, yes. Right now the US AQI in Atlanta is 72, which counts as moderate. Acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should ease off long, intense outdoor effort.
When is the best time to be outside in Atlanta?
Sun 4:00 AM–7:00 AM. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 35. The worst hour is around Sun 7:00 PM, at 79.
What is the main pollutant in Atlanta?
Ozone (O3). It drives the index right now, at 93 µg/m³. Formed by sunlight acting on traffic and plant emissions. Highest on hot, still afternoons, often downwind of cities.
How does Atlanta's air compare with the WHO guideline?
Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 8.9 µg/m³, against the World Health Organization's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. O3 is forecast above its guideline level.
How many cigarettes is a day of Atlanta's air?
About 0.4 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 8.9 µg/m³. By Berkeley Earth's rule of thumb, 22 µg/m³ breathed for a day is roughly one cigarette.
Will air quality in Atlanta improve this week?
Today looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 72, against 112 on Tuesday, the worst day in the forecast.
Measured near Atlanta
| Station | PM2.5 µg/m³ | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| NR-Georgia Tech AirNow, reference monitor | 2.8 | Sat 7:00 PM |
| United Ave AirNow, reference monitor | 2.8 | Sat 7:00 PM |
| NR-285 AirNow, reference monitor | – | Sat 7:00 PM |
Air quality near Atlanta
- Washington, D.C. 873 km NE
- Chicago 948 km N
- Detroit 961 km N
- Miami 976 km SE
- Philadelphia 1,071 km NE
- Houston 1,128 km W
About this forecast
Forecast from CAMS global via Open-Meteo: the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) model at about 40 km resolution (10 km inside Europe), refreshed twice a day. Models smooth out street-level peaks, so busy roads and industrial sites can be worse than shown; ground stations, where there are any nearby, show what monitors actually measure. The US AQI follows the US EPA scale and the European AQI the EEA bands. Readings for 33.75°N, 84.39°W, updated 2026-09-27 00:00 UTC.