According to the Allergy Capitals 2024 annual report, Washington, D.C., despite being famous for its incredible Magnolia Trees and remarkable Cherry Blossom blooms every spring, is the #12 best city in the country for those with Spring allergies! And before you say anything, no, this is not an early April Fool’s joke!
The annual report, which is carried out by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), measures the top 100 most populated metropolitan areas across the country to measure the pollen conditions each spring, determining which cities are the worst or the best, for those that suffer from seasonal allergies.
How does the ranking work?
The report’s ranking works by scoring several factors across each city, these mainly included:
- Tree, grass, and weed pollen levels
- Over-the-counter allergy medicine use
- Availability of board-certified immunologists/allergists
What this means that is the ranking does not necessarily depend only on which cities have the worst pollen, the rankings take each of the above factors into consideration to provide each city with a numerical score out of a possible 100, which equates to the worst possible conditions for someone with Spring allergies.
How did Washington, D.C. score and where did it rank?
As stated at the start of the article, D.C. ranked as the #12 best city for those with Spring allergies in America this year with an overall score of 67.37 out of a potential 100. The top factors listed above for D.C. were each given the following evaluations:
- Overall pollen count – better than average
- Medicine use – worse than average
- Availability of allergy specialists – better than average
While we’re as surprised as anyone about this finding, if there’s one thing we thought D.C. was one of the best places for in the country, it certainly was not about surviving Spring allergy season!
What are the top 10 most challenging places to live with seasonal allergies in 2024
The top 10 worst cities in the U.S. for Spring allergies this year according to this study were:
- Wichita, Kansas
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Dallas, Texas
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Richmond, Virginia
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Fayetteville, Arkansas