Sacramento got an F in air quality on American Lung Association report card. Here’s why

Jacqueline Pinedo, Sarah Linn
·3 min read
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Sacramento has some of the worst air quality in the United States, according to the American Lung Association.

Sacramento is among the top 10 most polluted cities in the nation in terms of ozone and particle pollution, the nonprofit organization said in its 2024 State of the Air report.

Each year, the American Lung Association issues report cards for all U.S. cities and counties where air quality data is collected on ozone and particle pollution. Metro areas are ranked from cleanest to most polluted in terms of pollution and each county is given a grade ranging from A to F.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach metro area topped the list of the spots with the most high ozone days.

Bakersfield, meanwhile, led the nation in terms of year-round and short-term particle pollution.

“Particle pollution and ozone are a threat to human health at every stage of life,” the American Lung Association said on its website, noting that “some groups of people are more at risk of illness and death than others.”

These include children, pregnant people, people 65 and older and those with asthma and other lung diseases.

What’s the air quality in Sacramento County?

The American Lung Association groups Sacramento and Roseville together as a single metropolitan area with a total population of more than 2.7 million.

The Sacramento-Roseville area was No. 7 on the list of metro areas with the most high ozone days, recording 17.5 high ozone days from 2020 to 2022.

That was roughly 59.5 fewer high ozone days than the area reported at its peak in 1996, according to The American Lung Association.

High ozone days sometimes refer to smog and is a “powerful air pollutant,” according to the American Lung Association.

The area was seventh on the list of places with the highest annual particle pollution, with a yearly average concentration of 22 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

When it comes to 24-hour particle pollution, the Sacramento-Roseville area ranked at No. 9, with 11.7 days of high particle pollution per year on average.

Particle pollution is a “mixture of tiny bits of solids and liquids in the air” that we later breathe, according got the American Lung Association.

Sacramento County and Placer County both received failing grades for ozone, short-term particle pollution and long-term particle pollution.

Which US cities have the worst ozone pollution?

Here are the top 10 most polluted metropolitan areas in the United States in terms of ozone, according to the American Lung Association:

  1. Los Angeles-Long Beach

  2. Visalia

  3. Bakersfield

  4. Fresno-Madera-Hanford

  5. Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona

  6. Denver-Aurora, Colorado

  7. Sacramento-Roseville

  8. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad

  9. Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, Utah

  10. Houston-The Woodlands, Texas

What are the top 10 worst cities for particle pollution?

These 10 metro areas had the worst year-round particle pollution, the State of the Air report said:

  1. Bakersfield

  2. Visalia

  3. Fresno-Madera-Hanford

  4. Eugene-Springfield, Oregon

  5. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland

  6. Los Angeles-Long Beach

  7. Sacramento-Roseville

  8. Medford-Grants Pass, Oregon

  9. Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona

  10. Fairbanks, Alaska

These 10 metro areas topped the list for the worst short-term particle pollution:

  1. Bakersfield

  2. Fresno-Madera-Hanford

  3. Fairbanks, Alaska

  4. Eugene-Springfield, Oregon

  5. Visalia

  6. Reno-Carson City-Fernley, Nevada

  7. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland

  8. Redding-Red Bluff

  9. Sacramento-Roseville

  10. Chico

How does American Lung Association come up with rankings?

The American Lung Association’s State of the Air report for 2024 ranked U.S. cities and graded counties based on ozone and particle pollution during 2020, 2021 and 2022, according to its website.

Data on ozone and short-term particle pollution at locations across the country came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System, as did data on year-round particle pollution by county.

The American Lung Association said it was assisted by members of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies and the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies.

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