New ‘State of the Air’ Report: Buffalo Metro-Area Sees Decline in Air Quality, Now Ranks 3rd Worst for Year-Round Fine Particle Pollution in the Northeast

Today, the American Lung Association released the 2025 “State of the Air” report, which reveals that Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY metro area was named 3rd most polluted area in the Northeast region for year-round particle pollution. 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 Michael Seilback for the American Lung Association. “Unfortunately, too many people in Buffalo, NY metro area are living with unhealthy levels of particle pollution. This 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 New York State policymakers to take action to improve our air quality, including , including passing the Hazardous Air Quality Emergency Preparedness Bill and NYHEAT bills, ensuring that New York move forward with implementing Clean Cars and Clean Trucks regulations, and electrifying New York’s school bus fleet; additionally, we are calling on everyone to support the incredibly important work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”

Particle Pollution in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY metro area: 
The report tracked short-term spikes in particle pollution, which can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. The Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY metro area ranked 139th 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—1 day per year, a C grade, in Erie County, New York.  That’s worse than last year's report, which recorded 0.8 days per year, earning it a B grade.  

For the year-round average level of particle pollution, the area’s worst county, Erie County, New York, received a passing grade for pollution levels below the federal standard. The Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY metro area ranked 142nd worst in the nation, and 3rd worst in the Northeast region. This was worse than the area's ranking in last year's report of 170th worst in the nation, 

Ground-level Ozone Pollution in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY metro area: 
The “State of the Air” report also looked at levels of ozone “smog,” the air pollutant affecting the largest number of people in the United States. The Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY metro area ranked 149th worst in the nation for ozone pollution. The ranking was based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days—0.7 days per year, a B grade, in Erie County, New York. This was a better ranking than in last year's report of 98th worst, with the same number of unhealthy days and the same B grade.

In addition to the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY metro area, other notable findings across [State] include: 

• The New York City metro area ranks 16th worst for  ozone pollution and 48th worst for year-round particle pollution
• Albany County’s grades for ozone declined from an A to a B, and its C for daily particles worsened to a D representing its worst value ever. 
• All air pollution measures worsened for the Rochester metro area, requiring its removal from the “cleanest” lists for both ozone and particle pollution. 

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.