2008 Fall Allergy Capitals

The Allergy Capitals is an annual research project of AAFA to identify “the 100 most challenging places to live with allergies” in the spring and fall seasons.
The rankings are based on scientific analysis of three factors for 100 metro areas. The data measured and compared each year includes:

Pollen scores (airborne grass/tree/weed pollen and mold spores)*
Number of allergy medications used per patient
Number of allergy specialists per patient

2008 Fall Rank	Overall	Rank Last Year	Metropolitan Area	Total Score (Avg. 48.44)	Pollen Score (Avg. 300 Grains Per Cubic Meter Air)	Medicine Utilization (Avg. 1.07 Per Patient)	Access to Board Certified Allergists (Avg. 1.28 Per 1,000 Patients)
1		37	Greensboro, NC	100.00
2		45	Greenville, SC	97.33
3		14	Little Rock, AR	83.96
4		56	Raleigh-Durham, NC	76.27
5		23	Jackson, MS	76.05
6		53	Knoxville, TN	75.79
7		71	Grand Rapids, MI	73.44
8		33	Wichita, KS	72.60
9		3	Oklahoma City, OK	70.40
10		57	Madison, WI	69.03
11		10	Tulsa, OK	66.90
12		43	Chattanooga, TN	64.54
13		32	Birmingham, AL	63.62
14		40	New Orleans, LA	63.05
15		88	Harrisburg, PA	63.03
16		18	Augusta, GA	62.57
17		61	Louisville, KY	60.10
18		2	San Antonio, TX	58.05
19		29	Columbia, SC	57.38
20		26	Charlotte, NC	56.84
21		31	Memphis, TN	55.75
22		72	Des Moines, IA	54.86
23		90	Scranton, PA	54.74
24		6	St. Louis, MO	54.13
25		n/a	Bridgeport, CT	54.11
26		60	Nashville, TN	53.98
27		21	Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX	53.89
28		8	El Paso, TX	53.80
29		66	Milwaukee, WI	53.43
30		81	Buffalo, NY	53.15
31		84	Syracuse, NY	52.30
32		n/a	New Haven, CT	51.90
33		13	Tampa, FL	51.78
34		77	Dayton, OH	51.54
35		9	McAllen, TX	51.54
36		n/a	Oxnard, CA	50.86
37		50	Indianapolis, IN	50.33
38		67	Omaha, NE	50.18
39		4	Lakeland, FL	50.17
40		58	Philadelphia, PA	50.01
41		1	Austin, TX	49.79
42		35	Charleston, SC	49.42
43		42	Baton Rouge, LA	49.40
44		20	San Francisco, CA	49.32
45		19	Palm Bay-Melbourne, FL	49.12
46		n/a	San Jose, CA	48.98
47		83	Hartford, CT	48.48
48		15	Jacksonville, FL	47.80
49		85	Lancaster, PA	47.20
50		44	Fresno, CA	47.16
51		87	Toledo, OH	46.82
52		5	Orlando, FL	46.62
53		36	Albuquerque, NM	45.81
54		11	Los Angeles, CA	45.47
55		17	Houston, TX	45.10
56		n/a	Poughkeepsie, NY	44.93
57		n/a	Ogden, UT	44.81
58		63	Salt Lake City, UT	44.73
59		n/a	Akron, OH	44.22
60		7	Tucson, AZ	43.97
61		64	Kansas City, MO	43.87
62		80	Columbus, OH	43.23
63		94	Cleveland, OH	42.89
64		n/a	Portland, ME	42.58
65		59	Allentown, PA	42.32
66		n/a	Cape Coral, FL	41.97
67		78	Cincinnati, OH	41.04
68		49	Denver, CO	41.03
69		n/a	Riverside, CA	40.48
70		51	Richmond, VA	40.32
71		47	Sacramento, CA	39.88
72		75	Pittsburgh, PA	39.56
73		89	Rochester, NY	39.28
74		69	New York, NY	39.17
75		74	Baltimore, MD	39.08
76		54	Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA	38.53
77		70	Washington, DC	37.96
78		98	Albany, NY	37.80
79		92	Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN	37.77
80		28	Atlanta, GA	37.60
81		76	Colorado Springs, CO	36.73
82		95	Providence, RI	35.85
83		n/a	Worcester, MA	35.43
84		22	Daytona Beach, FL	35.39
85		30	Phoenix-Meza, AZ	35.13
86		79	Chicago, IL	34.61
87		86	Detroit, MI	34.50
88		16	Bakersfield, CA	34.25
89		25	Las Vegas, NV	33.22
90		96	Youngstown, OH	32.91
91		99	Boston, MA	32.86
92		27	Springfield, MA	32.82
93		12	Sarasota, FL	32.50
94		55	Boise City, ID	32.03
95		46	Stockton, CA	30.39
96		48	Modesto, CA	30.20
97		41	San Diego, CA	29.36
98		65	Miami, FL	25.45
99		100	Seattle, WA	22.64
100		97	Portland, OR	18.43

*AAFA is solely responsible for the identification and ranking of the Fall Allergy Capitals list.

** “Pollen score” is comprised of compressive recorded levels of airborne grass/tree/weed pollen and mold spores, and prevalence data for each of these specific types of allergens.