New ‘State of the Air’ Report Finds Two Hawai‘i Counties Rank Among the Cleanest Cities in the Nation for Ozone Days and Annual Particle Pollution

Today, the American Lung Association released the 2025 “State of the Air” report, which reveals key air quality data for Urban Honolulu and Kahului. Nationally, the report found that 156 million people (46%) are living in areas that had unhealthy levels of air pollution.

The Lung Association’s 26th annual “State of the Air” report grades exposure to 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 looks at the latest quality-assured air quality data from 2021-2023.

“The air pollutants covered in this report are widespread and can impact anyone’s health. Both ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, preterm births and impaired cognitive functioning later in life. Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer,” said Pedro Haro, Executive Director for the American Lung Association. “Air pollution is causing kids to have asthma attacks, making people who work outdoors sick and unable to work, and leading to low birth weight in babies. We urge Hawai‘i policymakers to take action to improve our air quality, we are calling on everyone to support the incredibly important work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”

Ground-level Ozone Pollution in the Urban Honolulu metro area:

The “State of the Air” report looked at levels of ozone “smog,” the air pollutant affecting the largest number of people in the United States. The Urban Honolulu metro area ranked among the nation's cleanest cities for ozone pollution. The ranking was based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days—0 days per year, an A grade, in Honolulu City & County. This was comparable to the area's ranking in last year's report among the nation's cleanest cities, with 0 days per year, an A grade.

Ground-level Ozone Pollution in Maui, Kauai, and Hawai‘i Counties:

The “State of the Air” report looked at levels of ozone “smog,” the air pollutant affecting the largest number of people in the United States. The areas outside of Honolulu metro had no data collected for ozone pollution in this year's report. These areas typically don’t collect this level of data and had no data collected for ozone in last year's report.  

Particle Pollution in the Urban Honolulu metro area:

The report also tracked short-term spikes in particle pollution, which can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. The Urban Honolulu metro area ranked 177th worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution. The ranking was based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days—0.3 days per year, a B grade, in Honolulu County, Hawai‘i. This was worse than the area's ranking in last year's report among the nation's cleanest cities, with 0 days per year, an A grade. 

For the year-round average level of particle pollution, the area’s worst county, Honolulu City & County received a passing grade for pollution levels below the federal standard. The Urban Honolulu metro area ranked 207th worst in the nation (tied for best among the nation's cleanest cities). This was better than the area's ranking in last year's report of 204th worst in the nation (best among the nation's cleanest cities).

Particle Pollution in the Kahului-Wailuku, HI metro area:

The report also tracked short-term spikes in particle pollution, which can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. The Kahului-Wailuku, HI metro area ranked 172nd worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution. The ranking was based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days—0.5 days per year, a B grade, in Maui County, Hawai‘i. This was worse than the area's ranking in last year's report among the nation's cleanest cities, with 0 days per year, an A grade. 

For the year-round average level of particle pollution, the area’s worst county, Maui County received a passing grade for pollution levels below the federal standard. The Kahului-Wailuku metro area ranked 206th worst in the nation (3rd best among the nation's cleanest cities). This was better than the area's ranking in last year's report of 202nd worst in the nation (3rd best among the nation's cleanest cities).

The “State of the Air” report found that 156 million people in the U.S. (46%) live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution and 42.5 million people live in areas with failing grades for all three measures. The report also found 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 nearly three times as likely as white individuals to live in a community with three failing grades.

In this year’s “State of the Air” report, the Lung Association is calling on everyone to support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA is essential to protecting people’s health from ozone and particle pollution. Without EPA staff and programs, families won’t know what’s in the air they are breathing, and efforts to clean up air pollution will be undone. Join the American Lung Association in advocating to protect EPA’s expert staff and lifesaving programs. See the full report results and take action at Lung.org/sota.

Get involved and help the mission of American Lung Association. The Outstanding Mother Awards in Honolulu is coming up on May 25th.