Sacramento air quality
California, United States · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sat 5:00 PM local time
Good
Great air. A perfect time to be outside.
- Next 24 hours
- 36–46US AQI, highest around Sat 8:00 PM
- Best time outside
- Sun 1:00 AM–4:00 AMUS AQI about 37
- PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
- 0.6×8.5 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
- Cigarette equivalent
- ≈ 0.4 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
- European AQI
- Moderatelevel 3 of 6
Loading the live globe…
Pollutants in Sacramento right now
| Pollutant | Now | Next 24 h vs WHO | US AQI band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine particles (PM2.5) | 3.6 µg/m³ | 0.6× | Good |
| Coarse particles (PM10) | 5.0 µg/m³ | 0.2× | Good |
| Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) | 1.6 µg/m³ | 0.3× | Good |
| Ozone (O3) | 109 µg/m³ | 0.8× | Moderate |
| Sulphur dioxide (SO2) | 1.0 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 120 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Desert dust | 0 µg/m³ | ||
| Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth) | 0.05 | ||
| UV index | 0.8 |
“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 55 around Mon 1:00 PM, lowest 36 around Sat 5:00 PM.
5-day air quality forecast for Sacramento
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 | 24–46 | 6.0 | ||
| Sun, Sep 27 | 36–50 | 9.2 | ||
| Mon, Sep 28 | 50–55 | 10 | ||
| Tue, Sep 29 | 33–52 | 6.6 | ||
| Wed, Sep 30 | 38–78 | 16 |
Common questions about the air in Sacramento
Is the air in Sacramento safe today?
Yes. Right now the US AQI in Sacramento is 36, which counts as good. Great air. A perfect time to be outside.
When is the best time to be outside in Sacramento?
Sun 1:00 AM–4:00 AM. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 37. The worst hour is around Sat 8:00 PM, at 46.
What is the main pollutant in Sacramento?
Ozone (O3). It drives the index right now, at 109 µg/m³. Formed by sunlight acting on traffic and plant emissions. Highest on hot, still afternoons, often downwind of cities.
How does Sacramento's air compare with the WHO guideline?
Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 8.5 µg/m³, against the World Health Organization's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. The other pollutants stay within their guideline levels.
How many cigarettes is a day of Sacramento's air?
About 0.4 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 8.5 µg/m³. By Berkeley Earth's rule of thumb, 22 µg/m³ breathed for a day is roughly one cigarette.
Will air quality in Sacramento improve this week?
Today looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 46, against 78 on Wednesday, the worst day in the forecast.
Measured near Sacramento
| Station | PM2.5 µg/m³ | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Bercut Dr AirNow, reference monitor | 4.0 | Sat 4:00 PM |
| Arden Arcade - Del Paso Manor AirNow, reference monitor | 4.0 | Sat 4:00 PM |
| Davis - UCD Campus AirNow, reference monitor | 5.9 | Sat 4:00 PM |
Air quality near Sacramento
- San Francisco 121 km SW
- Fresno 254 km SE
- Los Angeles 582 km SE
- Las Vegas 622 km SE
- San Diego 761 km SE
- Portland 777 km N
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 38.58°N, 121.49°W, updated 2026-09-27 00:00 UTC.