PM2.5 air pollution exposure in United States

People in United States were exposed to an average PM2.5 concentration of 7.0 µg/m³ in 2023. The value for 2023 is the lowest in the series, which starts in 1990.

Measure: Mean annual exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) Unit: Micrograms per cubic metre Data: 1990 to 2023 Source: World Bank
United States, 2023 7.0 Micrograms per cubic metre
Change from 2022 −6.2% 2022: 7.4 µg/m³
World, 2023 32.9 µg/m³ Official aggregate
Median of OECD (38 countries), 2023 9.7 µg/m³ Middle value of 38 countries
Position in 2023 176th of 200 See the full ranking

PM2.5 air pollution exposure in United States over time

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Micrograms per cubic metre. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Mean annual exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (micrograms per cubic metre), 1999 to 2023
Period United StatesWorld
2023 7.0 µg/m³ 32.9 µg/m³
2022 7.4 µg/m³ 32.7 µg/m³
2021 8.2 µg/m³ 33.2 µg/m³
2020 7.7 µg/m³ 32.5 µg/m³
2019 7.3 µg/m³ 33.4 µg/m³
2018 7.8 µg/m³ 34.7 µg/m³
2017 7.7 µg/m³ 35.0 µg/m³
2016 7.4 µg/m³ 35.5 µg/m³
2015 8.1 µg/m³ 36.5 µg/m³
2014 8.4 µg/m³ 35.9 µg/m³
2013 8.4 µg/m³ 36.0 µg/m³
2012 8.7 µg/m³ 36.0 µg/m³
2011 9.4 µg/m³ 37.4 µg/m³
2010 9.3 µg/m³ 36.0 µg/m³
2009 9.4 µg/m³ 36.1 µg/m³
2008 10.3 µg/m³ 36.3 µg/m³
2007 10.9 µg/m³ 36.0 µg/m³
2006 11.7 µg/m³ 35.9 µg/m³
2005 13.3 µg/m³ 36.4 µg/m³
2004 12.6 µg/m³ 36.4 µg/m³
2003 13.3 µg/m³ 36.7 µg/m³
2002 13.6 µg/m³ 36.8 µg/m³
2001 13.7 µg/m³ 36.2 µg/m³
2000 14.5 µg/m³ 36.8 µg/m³
1999 14.8 µg/m³ 36.4 µg/m³

A dash means no value was published for that period.

In short

  • That is a change of −6.2% from 7.4 µg/m³ in 2022.
  • Since 2013, when it was 8.4 µg/m³, the figure has changed by −17.3%.
  • Among the 200 countries with data for 2023, United States has the 176th highest value.
  • The figure for the world in 2023 was 32.9 µg/m³.

More for United States

All statistics for United States

Source and dates

Original producer
Global Burden of Disease Study, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Distributed by
World Bank, World Development Indicators
Dataset or series code
EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3 · dataset details · view at source
Observation period
1990 to 2023 for United States
Provider update
8 October 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (per series metadata)
Attribution
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, original data: Global Burden of Disease Study, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation