The United States contains some of the wettest and driest cities in the developed world, sometimes only a few hundred miles apart. This guide places major US cities on a single precipitation scale using NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals.
The answer first
US cities range enormously in rainfall: from about 67 inches a year in Miami and 63 in New Orleans at the wet end, down to under 10 inches in Albuquerque and roughly 5 inches in Las Vegas at the dry end. The wettest cities cluster on the Gulf Coast and Southeast; the driest are in the desert Southwest and interior West. Most big cities land between 30 and 50 inches.
The full spread, wettest to driest
| Band | Annual precipitation | Example cities |
|---|---|---|
| Very wet | 50+ in | Miami (~67), New Orleans (~63), Memphis (~55), Houston (~52) |
| Wet | 40–50 in | Atlanta, Nashville, Boston, New York |
| Moderate | 30–40 in | Chicago, Seattle (~38), Washington DC, Dallas |
| Dry | 15–30 in | Minneapolis, San Diego, Los Angeles |
| Arid | Under 15 in | Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Las Vegas (~5) |
For the fully sorted, computed versions see the rainiest US cities and driest US cities rankings.
Geography drives the pattern
- Gulf Coast and Southeast (Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Memphis): warm, humid air and frequent storms make these the wettest. Most rain falls in heavy summer downpours.
- Northeast and Midwest (New York, Boston, Chicago): a steadier 35–45 inches spread fairly evenly through the year.
- West Coast (Seattle, San Francisco): a sharp wet-winter, dry-summer rhythm. Seattle’s rain is frequent but light — see why Seattle isn’t the rainiest US city.
- Desert Southwest and interior West (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver): under 10 inches, much of it in brief late-summer monsoon storms.
Why total inches can mislead
Two cities with the same annual total can feel completely different. Seattle (~38 in) and Dallas (~37 in) are close on paper, yet Seattle is grey and drizzly for months while Dallas gets its rain in occasional heavy spring storms between long dry, sunny stretches. The distribution across the year matters as much as the total — which is why every city page shows the month-by-month figures, not just an annual number.
Using precipitation to plan
For a trip, what matters is the rainfall in your month, not the annual total. Check the monthly column on a city page, or run your dates through the packing & comfort tool, which bands each month from Dry to Very wet. To understand the temperature side of the table, read how to read average high and low temperatures.
All figures are NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — 30-year averages, not forecasts. See what climate normals are for the full explanation.