Nearly half of Americans live in places with failing grades for air pollution, report says

About 46% of U.S. residents — 156 million people — lived in areas with unhealthy air quality that earned “F” grades from the American Lung Association for ozone or particle pollution.

About 46% of U.S. residents — 156 million people — lived in areas with unhealthy air quality that earned “F” grades from the American Lung Association for ozone or particle pollution. 

That’s according to the association’s 26th annual analysis of air quality data, which shows that the country is regressing on clean air measures. 

The analysis — which reviewed data from the years 2021 to 2023 — saw an increase of about 25 million people living with unhealthy air in comparison with last year’s survey.

The report shows how the effects of climate change — heat, drought and increased wildfire smoke — are driving changes in air quality across the country. 

Los Angeles skyline shimmers in the smog in 2022.Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images file“This year, we were really struck by, first of all, the large increase in the number of people across the country living with unhealthy air, and how much of the increase was driven by worsening ozone,” said Katherine Pruitt, the national senior director for clean air policy at the American Lung Association, who added that hot, sunny weather “makes ozone more likely to form.”