Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Portland ranked among the worst U.S. cities for allergies in new 2025 report
Portland recently appeared in a national study that examined which U.S. cities struggled most with allergies this year.
The 2025 Allergy Capitals report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America reviewed 100 of the most populated metropolitan areas in the country, excluding Alaska and Hawaii.
Each city was evaluated based on pollen scores, over-the-counter allergy medication use and the number of board-certified allergy specialists.
Climate change and longer pollen seasons
According to the report, climate change continues to influence allergy severity. Growing seasons now begin earlier and last longer than they did 30 years ago. Some regions in the United States are experiencing tree, grass or weed pollen almost year-round.
Researchers cited in the report noted that climate change accounts for about half of the increase in pollen season length and nearly 8 percent of the increase in overall pollen concentrations. The foundation stated that pollen seasons are now starting roughly 20 days sooner and lasting about 10 days longer than they did three decades ago.
Portland’s placement on the 2025 list
Portland ranked No. 52 out of the 100 cities that were evaluated, with a total score of 67.92 out of 100.
Portland scored worse than average in the all-pollen index category. The city received a better than average ranking for allergy medicine use and scored average in the allergy specialist category.
How the ranking was created
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America used three primary data sources for the Allergy Capitals report. Daily pollen counts were gathered from Pollen Sense Automated Particulate Sensors for the 2024 calendar year.
Over-the-counter sinus and allergy medication sales were measured through the Circana Medication Sales 2024 database.
The number of allergy specialists came from board-certified allergist and immunologist listings within the Komodo Health Prism Health Care 2024 database.
Full ranking of U.S. cities
The report lists 100 metropolitan areas, with Wichita, Kansas at No. 1 and Boston, Massachusetts at No. 100. Portland, Oregon landed at No. 52 and Seattle, Washington ranked at No. 68.
