Finally some good news: Wichita dethroned as allergy capital of US. But not so fast
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s annual allergy capitals report for 2026 is out, and for the first time in three years, Wichita didn’t take the top spot.
After being repeatedly named the worst city in the U.S. for allergies, Wichita has moved down to sixth place in the list.
While Wichita ranked “better than average” for pollen count, it fared worse on allergy medicine use and allergy specialists, earning its sixth-place ranking. Boise, Idaho, was named first.
What causes allergies in Wichita, and what separates it from other cities in the U.S.? We spoke with Matthew McKernan, a state horticulture specialist with Kansas State University, to find out the leading cause of allergies in the area. McKernan was previously a horticultural agent for the Sedgwick County extension office.
What is causing me to sneeze in Wichita?
How bad your allergies will be during any given season depends on a number of factors, including the temperature, wind and precipitation.
“One of the other challenging factors is having warmer temperatures in the spring and … delaying our frosts and freezes in the fall. (That helps) create a longer growing season,” McKernan said. “The longer our growing seasons become, the earlier and more pollen a lot of our plants are able to produce.”
The severity of your allergies also depends on the time of day, McKernan said.
“Our pollen activity in the air tends to increase after sunrise and kind of peak in the mid-morning hours,” he said.
Different plants blooming also play a role in when those with allergies might suffer the most. During early springtime, McKernan said tree pollen is the leading cause of allergies.
“For a tree to be able to produce seeds, it produces a lot of pollen, and that pollen is then blown from the tree onto female flowers of the same tree or a nearby tree in order to produce viable fruit,” McKernan said. “And so, with the amount of pollen that’s produced, and as small as those pollen grains are, the wind can carry that pollen long distances, many miles.
“When we’re out and about in the springtime, we’re in between those trees, around those trees, and so allergy sufferers are susceptible to some of that additional pollen in the air,” he continued.
Eastern redcedar trees are the earliest bloomers, and could be the cause of your sneezing right now.
“It produces some of the first pollen, and then maple and elm trees are pretty quickly behind it, flowering and producing pollen as well,” McKernan said, “and those three are probably the three biggest tree pollen sources.”
Tree pollen stops being the leading type in the area once summertime rolls around.
“As we move into the summer months, typically our grasses start to green up. And as our grasses start to grow, they begin to bloom and try to produce seed,” McKernan said. “The early- to mid-summer months are typically when we start to see a lot of the pollen numbers transition from our trees into our grasses.”
Common grasses in Kansas causing allergies include bermuda grass, blue grass, orchard grass and invasive grasses, like Johnson grass.
When fall begins, that’s when broadleaf plants begin to trigger allergies.
“Ragweed is typically one of the most common,” McKernan said.
While winter may bring a slight break for allergy sufferers, Wichita’s high wind means your sniffles may still make appearances.
“Even though we may be dormant or not have plants in bloom, that doesn’t mean states to the south of us may not still have plants in bloom,” McKernan said.
To help manage seasonal allergies, the Mayo Clinic recommends staying inside on windy days, avoiding yard work, washing clothes after being outside and keeping doors and windows closed. You can also use over-the-counter allergy medications to combat your symptoms.
AAFA’s worst US cities for allergies
Here are AAFA’s 2026 worst U.S. cities for those with allergies:
- Boise, Idaho
- San Diego, Calif.
- Tulsa, Okla.
- Provo, Utah
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Wichita
- Raleigh, N.C.
- Ogden, Utah
- Spokane, Wash.
- Greenville, S.C.
