Philadelphia’s failing air quality hits hardest in neighborhoods near industry and highways, where asthma rates soar
Researchers found 766 census tracts in the Philadelphia metro area where pollution, industrial zoning and asthma burdens overlap.
- Researchers studied 766 census tracts in the Philadelphia metropolitan area in 2025, finding that asthma rates correlate with environmental and social pressures, particularly pollution near industrial sites and major highways.
- Zoning and infrastructure decisions often place homes and schools near industrial emission sources, while transportation investments route heavy truck traffic and highways through residential neighborhoods, increasing pollution exposure.
- Higher asthma rates were linked to neighborhoods with more Black residents and adults without high school diplomas, as historical redlining practices led to uneven reinvestment and lingering environmental burdens.
- Residents living near industrial land and major roads in Port Richmond and Bridesburg along I-95 face worse air pollution, with Franklinville and Stanton in North Philadelphia reporting the highest asthma rates.
- Increasing green infrastructure such as parks and street trees may reduce respiratory irritants, as experts call for more research on how land-use decisions interact to affect long-term community health.
33 Articles
33 Articles
Philly's poor air quality linked to higher asthma rates near industrial land, major roads
Philadelphia's air quality declined in an annual report from the American Lung Association, ranking 17th-worst among metro areas in the United States. A new study from researchers at Rowan University found the neighborhoods most impacted are predominantly Black and located near industrial land and major highways.
The Conversation
Philadelphia’s failing air quality hits hardest in neighborhoods near industry and highways, where asthma rates soar
A view from a bridge overlooking the Harrowgate neighborhood of North Philadelphia. Robert Nickelsberg/Getty ImagesPhiladelphians who live near industrial land and major roads – those who live in the Port Richmond and Bridesburg neighborhoods along I-95, or the Delaware River port-industrial corridor, for example – face worse air pollution and are more likely to have asthma than residents who live farther from those sites. Philly neighborhoods w…
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