The Worst Allergy Cities in America

It’s fairly common knowledge that an allergy is an immune response or reaction to substances that are usually not harmful. People who suffer from allergies therefore have to be cautious how they interact with the environment and manage their symptoms by either limiting the exposure to the allergens in their life or find ways to treat the symptoms when allergies do hit.

So here’s some interesting news. There are some cities in America where it is better to live if you have allergies. There are also cities that are not happy circumstances for allergy sufferers.

Pollen is one of the worst enemies to allergy sufferers. The ongoing combination of weather and climate trends, types of vegetation, humidity and wind in a specific area all combine to affect the likelihood of allergies. One thing is certain: All across the country allergies are coming on sooner and in many places resulting in more intense symptoms.

You might want to stay away from Jackson, Mississippi this year if you have bad pollen allergies. Jackson is rated number one on the list of worst cities for allergies. Early rains have made the southern coast a hotbed for allergies.

Knoxville, Tennessee is seated in the Smokey Mountains where tree pollen allergies can aggravate sinuses to no end. Right up the allergy road sits Chattanooga, number two on the worst cities for allergies in 2013.

Hey, welcome, y’all, to McAllen, Texas, where the ongoing drought means allergy pollens can be more intense (and itchy, and awful) and hang around longer.

Number five on the list is Louisville, Kentucky. They may have the best college basketball team in the nation but they are also America’s 38^th worst city for air quality due to pollution. That can aggravate allergies and even asthma.

If you’re in Wichita, Kansas you’d better hold your nose because being number six on the allergy capitol list is quite a tryst. The wind does Wichita no favors because pollen spores can carry for hundreds of miles. So if the first wave doesn’t get you, the second, third, or 50^th wave sooner or later will.

The roller coaster weather patterns around Dayton, Ohio help make it the seventh worst city for allergies in America. The tree pollen peaks in early April. Grass pollen comes along in late June. When it gets humid you have to watch out for mold counts. Sounds like the best strategy in Dayton, Ohio is to get an air purifier and stay indoors on some days.

So, what is up in Memphis, Tennessee, besides Graceland and Elvis? Well, Memphis cracks the Top 10 in worst cities for allergies because it is essentially a hunka-hunka burning love due to warm overall temperatures, long growing seasons and a lot of tree and grass pollen that lasts well into the fall. If you travel to Memphis, you might want to bring along your own allergy prevention device.  Elvis won’t mind, he’s already left the building.

Likewise in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Besides the fact that saying the word “ohk-lah-homa” already sounds like you’re stuffed up, the allergy season there is long, starting in mid-March and lasting well into late summer.

The down low on Baton Rouge, Louisiana, our tenth city for worst allergies in America, is that it sits in a basin where air settles, pollution can drag on and pollen can just float in the air like wet dust waiting to go up your nose. No bargains here, folks. Not if you have allergies and want to enjoy the South.

There are ways to combat allergies if you live in one of these places or wind up in one of the pollen hotspots somewhere else in America. Conditions are constantly changing but one thing doesn’t: Your need to prepare for and treat your allergies when conditions, or locations, are ripe for allergy symptoms.