New Report: Mississippi Children Are Breathing Some of the Dirtiest Air in the Country

Today, the American Lung Association released its 27th annual “State of the Air” report, which finds that nearly half of the children in the U.S. are breathing unhealthy levels of air pollution, including 65,296 kids in Mississippi. The report also finds that air quality in the Greater Jackson area has slightly worsened and residents are being exposed to more unhealthy ozone pollution. The metro area was named 143rd most polluted in the nation for ozone pollution and received a B grade. 

The Lung Association’s “State of the Air” report analyzes air quality data from 2022-2024 to grade counties on unhealthy levels of ozone (smog) and particle pollution (soot) and ranks counties and metro areas among the cleanest and most polluted. Both pollutants are linked to premature death and serious health impacts, including asthma attacks, heart disease, stroke, preterm birth, cognitive impairment, and lung cancer. 

For the Greater Jackson area, the report finds: 

• Ground-level Ozone Pollution in the Jackson-Vicksburg-Brookhaven metro area:
  • National Ranking: 143rd out of 226 (149th worst in 2025 report)
  • Number of Unhealthy Days Per Year: 0.7 days per year (0.7 days per year in 2025 report)
  • Grade: B, Hinds County worst in metro area (B in 2025 report)
• Short-term Particle Pollution in the Jackson-Vicksburg-Brookhaven metro area:
  • National Ranking: 154th worst out of 224 (156th worst in 2025 report)
  • Number of Unhealthy Days Per Year: 0.7 days per year (0.7 days per year in 2025 report)
  • Grade: B, Hinds County worst in metro area (B in 2025 report)
• Year-Round Average Level of Particle Pollution in the Jackson-Vicksburg-Brookhaven metro area:
  • National Ranking: 57th worst out of 211 (54th worst in 2025 report)
  • Grade: Passing grade, pollution levels below the federal standard, Hinds County, worst in region

Nationally, the report found that 33.5 million children in the U.S., or 46% of people under 18 years old, live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. In total, 44% of people of all ages in the U.S. (152 million people in total) live in a county that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. 32.9 million people live in counties with failing grades for all three measures.

Infants, children and teens as a group are more susceptible to the health impacts of air pollution. Their lungs are still developing; they breathe more air for their body size than adults and they are frequently exposed to outdoor air. Air pollution exposure in childhood can cause long-term harm, including reduced lung growth, new asthma cases and increased risk of respiratory diseases.

“Clean air is essential to the health and wellbeing of families across Mississippi. Children deserve to breathe air that won’t make them sick,” said Calandra Davis, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association. “Unfortunately, too many people in the Greater Jackson area are living with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution. This air pollution is causing kids to have asthma attacks, contributing to chronic health conditions, and making people who work outdoors sick.” 

Davis added: “To compound the issue further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rollbacks of critical healthy air rules are impacting Mississippians, particularly our residents in Amite and Desoto county who are seeing increases in lung health diseases due to air quality. We urge Mississippi policymakers to take action to improve our air quality. We also ask that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality reject any permit requests that do not assess climate and health impacts first. We are calling on everyone to tell EPA that our kids’ health counts.”

Other notable findings across Mississippi include: 

• Memphis-Clarksdale-Forrest City, TN-MS-AR metro area ranked 27th worst in the nation for ozone pollution, earning an F grade. The metro area ranked 137th worst nationally for short-term particle pollution based on the area’s worst county, Desoto, averaging 1 unhealthy day per year, and received a C grade. For year-round pollution, the area is ranked 49th worst in the nation and received a failing grade due to pollution levels in the area’s worst county, Desoto County.
• Gulfport-Biloxi metro area ranked 110th worst in the nation for ozone pollution, earning a C grade. The metro area ranked 173rd worst nationally for short-term particle pollution and received a B grade. For year-round particle pollution the area received a passing grade and ranked 103rd worst in the nation.

The Lung Association is calling on everyone to urge EPA to value the health of America’s kids. Historically, EPA has played an essential role in protecting people’s health from air pollution. The current EPA has retreated from its public health foundation by rolling back clean air protections. This EPA has also taken the recent step of eliminating health-related information from its economic analyses, meaning that the costs of pollution to kids, families and communities will not be counted as policies are undone. EPA must not devalue kids’ health.

See the full report results and take action at Lung.org/sota.