Tampa Bay Ozone Pollution Ranking Raises Concerns

Tampa Bay’s latest ozone pollution ranking is raising fresh concerns for local residents who deal with heat, traffic, and humid outdoor conditions year-round. A new American Lung Association report places the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area at No. 100 out of 226 U.S. metro areas for ground-level ozone pollution, showing the region still has work to do when it comes to cleaner air.

The American Lung Association’s 2026 “State of the Air” report reviewed air quality data from 2022 through 2024, measuring unhealthy levels of ozone pollution and particle pollution across the country. For Tampa Bay, the report found an average of 2 unhealthy ozone days per year, up from 1.3 days in the previous report.