Pittsburgh Air Quality Ranked In National Study: See How Region Fared

PITTSBURGH, PA — The Pittsburgh region’s air quality is among the nation's worst, according to the findings in the American Lung Association's 26th annual "State of the Air" report released Wednesday.

The Pittsburgh-Weirton-Steubenville metro area ranked 12th among the 25 worst cities for year-round particle pollution and 16th for cities most polluted by ozone. Allegheny County received an F grade for particle pollution and a D grade for its number of high ozone grades.

The Pittsburgh-Weirton-Steubenville metro area also was ranked the worst in the nation's Mid-Atlantic region, which includes Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, for both daily and year-round particle pollution.

The report grades exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution, or smog, and year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution (also known as soot) over a three-year period. The study examined latest air quality data from 2021-2023.

“Families across the U.S. are dealing with the health impacts of air pollution every day, and extreme heat and wildfires are making it worse," said American Lung Association President Harold Wimmer."Air pollution is causing kids to have asthma attacks, making people who work outdoors sick, and leading to low birth weight in babies. This year’s report shows the dramatic impact that air pollution has on a growing number of people."

Nationally, the report found that 46 percent of Americans - 156.1 million people - are living in places that get failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. That's nearly 25 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report, and more than in any other State of the Air report in the last 10 years.