A wide-angle, slightly hazy daytime photograph looking across Old Tampa Bay toward the distant Downtown Tampa skyline. In the foreground, a multi-lane highway bridge is visible with several cars and a large truck traveling toward the city. Two tall, modern streetlights curve over the road from the left. The skyline is a soft grey silhouette against a pale, overcast sky, reflecting a typical humid afternoon in the Tampa Bay area.
Credit: Chris Young / WMNF News

A new report from the American Lung Association found air quality slightly worsened in several Florida cities.

Here’s how the Tampa Bay area measured up. 

The Lung Association’s “State of the Air” report analyzed air quality data from 2022 to 2024 to grade regions on unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution.

The report found that the Tampa Bay area was ranked 100th out of 226 for ground-level ozone pollution.

Ashley Lyerly is the senior director of advocacy. 

“Last year, we were 115th, so we’re sort of bumping up to, in the numbers, not so much, but really sort of middle of the pack as it relates to ozone pollution in that ranking. But that, again, being said, we’re not on the clean air list, right? So we’re still, because we are middle of the road, that means that we’re still breathing unhealthy air pollution.” Lyerly said.

She emphasizes that the data is from 2022-2024, and says rollbacks in protections for air quality from the EPA may lead to lower scores in the future. 

This story first appeared at WMNF News, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project  (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication or donor interested in Tampa Bay Journalism Project, please email rroa@ctampa.com. Support WMNF News by visiting the community radio station’s support page.

In Florida, a bill passed this legislative session that prohibits local governments from issuing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“We need to stop rolling back clean air protections that we have at the federal level. And then we also need to allow our local communities in the state of Florida to regulate things like greenhouse gas emissions.” Lyerly told WMNF.

The Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale metro area ranked 132nd worst in the nation for ozone pollution.

Read the full report here.

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This article appears in Apr. 23 – 29, 2026.