Your Neighborhood's Air Quality

We combine data from our air quality monitoring network, NYCCAS, with other data to understand what makes one neighborhood's air quality different from another's. We found that building emissions, building density, industrial areas, and traffic density are associated with differences in air quality.

If we don't have an air quality monitor in one neighborhood, but we know its building density, its industrial area, and its traffic, then we can model (estimate or predict) its air quality - based on monitored air quality in similar neighborhoods.

Choose a neighborhood to get data:

What affects the air in your neighborhood

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Building emissions affect your neighborhood's air quality. Like vehicles, buildings burn fuel: their boilers run on oil or gas to produce heat and hot water. These boilers emit pollutants that affect your neighborhood's air quality.

Building density is a key factor for air quality - since buildings emit pollutants, a neighborhood's building density can help predict its air quality. New York City's building density is a function of its population density - with over 26,000 people per square mile, it's is the densest American city.

The amount of industrial area in a neighborhood may affect its air quality in several ways. Manufacturing may emit pollutants, construction can kick up particulate matter, and increased truck traffic can lead to increased vehicular emissions.

Traffic density affects a neighborhood's air quality in a few ways. Combustion engines emit "tailpipe emissions" such as PM2.5, NOx and carbon monoxide (CO), while dust from wear to tires and from braking contribute additional particulate matter to the air.

Air quality in your neighborhood

PM2.5 (or fine particles) worsen lung and heart diseases and are linked to cancer and premature death. NYC meets the EPA's annual average standard (measured in micrograms per cubic meter, or μg/m³), but short-term concentrations sometimes exceed this threshold.

EPA standard:

12 μg/m³

NYC average:

7.0 μg/m³

Your area:

Nitrogen dioxide is linked to asthma hospitalizations and other respiratory conditions. NYC meets the EPA's annual standard (measured in parts per billion, or ppb), but short-term concentrations sometimes exceed this threshold.

EPA standard:

53 ppb

NYC average:

17 ppb

Your area:

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For more air quality data, see The NYCCAS Annual Report.