Rating

Low Wildfire Smoke Exposure

Scale56-100

Higher values are better.

About This Ranking

Goal

Highlight places with lower long-run and recent wildfire-attributable outdoor PM2.5, using a peer-reviewed surface-smoke model plus nearby ground monitors corroborated by stronger NOAA smoke plumes.

Sources

Data behind the rating

3 sources

Stanford / Childs et al. Wildfire-Smoke PM2.5

2011-2020 scoring window from the 2006-2020 V1 dataset

Data: Peer-reviewed daily wildfire-attributable surface PM2.5 estimates at 10 km resolution, aggregated to counties using population and area weights.
What it tells us: Supplies the stable long-run CONUS exposure layer. It estimates ambient outdoor smoke at county scale, not parcel, indoor, or personal exposure.

EPA AirData Daily PM2.5

2020-2025 daily observations

Data: Daily PM2.5 observations from EPA monitoring sites, retaining observed event conditions and excluding superseded uncorrected T640/T640X methods.
What it tells us: Supplies recent ground-level evidence from up to three nearby monitoring sites. Distance and sampling completeness limit confidence where coverage is sparse.

NOAA HMS Smoke Polygons

2020-2025 daily smoke polygons

Data: Daily NOAA/NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke plume polygons with light, medium, and heavy density classes.
What it tells us: Corroborates recent EPA monitor days with medium or heavy satellite-observed smoke overhead. Plume coverage alone is not treated as surface concentration.

Top 10 Locations

Ranked by Low Wildfire Smoke Exposure.

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