Spring allergies are here for 2025, and this map shows which U.S. cities could be hit hardest

More than 100 million people in the U.S. experience allergies, including seasonal pollen allergies.

Spring is here, and with it comes allergy season.

Each year, more than 100 million people in the U.S. experience allergies, including seasonal pollen allergies. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has released its annual report for 2025, ranking the most challenging U.S. cities for those dealing with seasonal allergies.

The report ranks the top 100 U.S. cities based on pollen levels, over-the-counter allergy medication use, and access to allergists.

For three years in a row, Wichita, Kansas, ranks as the most challenging city for pollen allergies. Cities in the South and East are among the hardest hit.

New Orleans, which ranked 34th last year, jumped to second place this year due to a surge in weed pollen, likely from moisture from Hurricane Francine, which made landfall in September. November 2024 was also the warmest on record in Louisiana, and warmer temperatures extended the growing season.

A clearer, more helpful Pollen Wise home screen

We’ve been spending a lot of time reviewing feedback, reading survey responses, and looking closely at how people are using Pollen Wise. One common thread amongst the feedback and survey responses stuck out: people want the app to feel easier to understand at a glance, and more helpful in answering the question, “What should I care about right now?” That thinking shaped this latest update. This is a major refresh to the Pollen Wise home screen, and while we know there is still more to improve, this update is an important step. We’re continuing to build, refine, and learn, and your feedback is a big part of what helps us decide where to go next.

Incoming: Branches, Revisions, and Layers

Update: The data cutoff for legacy metrics data was changed from March 11 to March 23, 2026 6PM UTC. Data before that date will continue to be available for the forseeable future, however data after March 23, 2026 6PM UTC will no longer be present either in the legacy portal data viewer or via v1 APIs. Please use the V2 APIs and the Branch/Revision-powered data viewer in the portal for live incoming data

LLMs vs CNNs: Why Physical AI Starts With Data Infrastructure

When we say “AI” at Pollen Sense, most people assume we mean LLMs. We don’t. When people hear that Pollen Sense is building AI data infrastructure, the default assumption is usually large language models, chatbots, text generation, or conversational AI. That’s understandable given the moment we’re in. But it’s not what we mean when we say AI. At Pollen Sense, AI data infrastructure means Physical AI, machine learning systems that directly observe the real world, classify physical signals in real time, and convert them into structured, trustworthy data that other systems can reason on.

Spring allergies are here for 2025, and this map shows which U.S. cities could be hit hardest

A clearer, more helpful Pollen Wise home screen

Incoming: Branches, Revisions, and Layers

LLMs vs CNNs: Why Physical AI Starts With Data Infrastructure

Real-time particulate intelligence for public health, research, and daily life.