Cities With Low Humidity in the USA
The desert cities of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson top the list of major American cities with the lowest humidity. Las Vegas clearly ranks as the driest, with an average relative humidity level of just 30 percent.
Phoenix and Tucson join in as the only other big cities that average less than 40 percent humidity.
At the next step up in humidity levels sit Denver and Salt Lake City, both having well under 60 percent humidity on average year round.
The five cities consistently rank as the least humid in the United States, regardless of the time of day. The rest of the top 12 least humid cities hang together in the range of 60 to 66 percent humidity.
These humidity numbers are annual averages based on readings taken from 1961 to 1990.
The 56 major cities included in the weather rankings here represent the US urban areas with the most people, all those with over one million residents in 2020.
| City | Humidity |
|---|---|
| Las Vegas, Nevada | 30.3 |
| Phoenix, Arizona | 36.6 |
| Tucson, Arizona | 38.3 |
| Denver, Colorado | 52.0 |
| Salt Lake City, Utah | 55.3 |
| Fresno, California | 60.5 |
| New York, New York | 63.0 |
| Washington, DC | 64.3 |
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 64.9 |
| Dallas, Texas | 65.4 |
| Baltimore, Maryland | 65.8 |
| Hartford, Connecticut | 66.0 |
Lowest Morning Humidity
Thirteen of America's large cities stay under 78 percent humidity at their highest levels of the day, the early morning. Most major cities get above 70 % each day. But the least humid city, Las Vegas, averages less than 40 % humidity in the early morning.
| City | Humidity | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas, Nevada | 39.6 | 4 am |
| Tucson, Arizona | 47.0 | 5 am |
| Phoenix, Arizona | 51.0 | 5 am |
| Salt Lake City, Utah | 67.1 | 5 am |
| Denver, Colorado | 67.3 | 5 am |
| New York, New York | 71.1 | 7 am |
| Fresno, California | 73.0 | 4 am |
| Honolulu, Hawaii | 74.0 | 9 am |
| Boston, Massachusetts | 74.7 | 4 am |
| Washington, DC | 74.9 | 4 am |
| San Diego, California | 76.1 | 4 am |
| Baltimore, Maryland | 76.9 | 7 am |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 77.9 | 4 am |
Lowest Afternoon Humidity
As the humidity drops lower into the afternoon, the some of the same cities continue to top the list of cities with lowest humidity. Twelve major US cities average a daily low of less than 51 percent humidity.
Some places are among the least humid cities in the afternoon, but not during the morning. The humidity at Sacramento, San Antonio and others declines enough during the day for them to join the afternoon ranks of least humid cities.
| City | Humidity | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas, Nevada | 20.3 | 4 pm |
| Phoenix, Arizona | 22.6 | 5 pm |
| Tucson, Arizona | 24.0 | 5 pm |
| Denver, Colorado | 34.2 | 2 pm |
| Fresno, California | 40.0 | 4 pm |
| Salt Lake City, Utah | 40.8 | 2 pm |
| Sacramento, California | 45.5 | 4 pm |
| San Antonio, Texas | 48.1 | 3 pm |
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 48.1 | 3 pm |
| Dallas, Texas | 48.5 | 3 pm |
| Austin, Texas | 48.9 | 3 pm |
| Charlotte, North Carolina | 50.7 | 4 pm |
Reference
World Data Center for Meteorology. Climate of the World.