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Nearly half of the children in the U.S. are breathing unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s (ALA) 27th annual State of the Air report. While significant progress in improving air quality has been made during the past 50 years, 152 million people still live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. Recent actions taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to roll back clean air protections will expose more people, including children, to harmful air pollution, ALA said. The ALA report grades counties’ air quality in terms of unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution (also known as smog), and year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution (also known as soot) over a three-year period. The report also ranks counties and metropolitan areas in cleanest and most polluted lists for each pollutant. The report looks at the latest quality-assured air quality data available, which is from 2022-2024. The report finds that 33.5 million children in the U.S., or 46% of people under 18 years old, live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. More than 7 million children (10% of all kids) live in a community with failing grades for all three measures. Infants, children, and teens as a group are more susceptible to the health impacts of air pollution, ALA said. Their lungs are still developing, they breathe more air for their body size than adults, and they are frequently exposed to outdoor air. Air pollution exposure in childhood can cause long-term harm, including reduced lung growth, new asthma cases, increased risk of respiratory diseases, and impaired cognitive functioning later in life. More broadly, both ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects, such as asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, and preterm births. Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer. “For decades, people in the U.S. have breathed cleaner air thanks to the Clean Air Act,” said Harold Wimmer, ALA president and CEO. “Unfortunately, that progress is now at risk due to extreme heat and wildfires, fueled by climate change and policy changes that are making the problem worse. Now is the time to strengthen air pollution standards, but EPA is doing the opposite. In the last year, EPA has weakened enforcement and rolled back rules that would have protected kids from power plant and vehicle pollution. Children need clean air to grow and play, and communities need clean air to thrive. Leaders at every level must act to improve and protect America’s air quality.” In total, 44% of people of all ages in the U.S. (152 million people) live in a county that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution, and 32.9 million people live in counties with failing grades for all three measures. Top 5 Cities Most Polluted by Ozone Pollution: Los Angeles-Long Beach, California Visalia, California Bakersfield-Delano, California Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran, California Top 5 Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution: Fairbanks-College, Alaska Eugene-Springfield, Oregon Bakersfield-Delano, California Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville, Texas Visalia, California Top 5 Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution: Bakersfield-Delano, California Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville, Texas Eugene-Springfield, Oregon Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran, California Visalia, California (tied for 5th) San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California (tied for 5th) The report also finds that a person of color in the U.S. is more than twice as likely as a white individual to live in a community with a failing grade on all three pollution measures. Notably, Hispanic individuals are more than three times as likely as white individuals to live in a community with three failing grades. The report examines data centers as a growing source of air quality concern for communities across the nation. While the report doesn’t have specific information quantifying emissions from data centers, it highlights that the rapidly increasing number of data centers powered by fossil fuels can contribute significantly to local air pollution burdens. In addition, the report recognizes the nation’s cleanest cities. To make the cleanest list for all three measures, a city must experience no high ozone or particle pollution days and rank among the 25 cities with the lowest year-round particle pollution levels. This year, only one city—Bangor, Maine—made the cleanest cities lists for all three pollution measures. Last year, there were two cities on this list and in 2024, there were five cities on this list. This reflects an overall worsening of air quality across the country. To see the full report results, click here.

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