The 10 Worst States for Allergies

By Justin J. Murphy

Spring is just around the corner. Warmer weather, citrus-hued sunsets, radiant sunshine, the return of Daylight Savings, and…pollen. Lots and lots of pollen.

If you find yourself sneezing, coughing, wheezing, tearing, itching, scratching, and feeling downright irritated during tree and grass pollen season, then you most likely suffer from seasonal allergies just like the other 60 million people across the U.S. 

Seasonal Allergy Factors

We know certain medications can help ease the symptoms of seasonal allergies to get you through your day—but for many people, a dose of loratadine isn’t enough to keep you breathing easy month after month through spring, summer, and into fall.  In fact, inundating your immune system with cetirizine, fexofenadine, and corticosteroid sprays can create a slew of unwanted side effects like drowsiness, dry mouth, dry eyes, blurred or double vision, dizziness headache, and even low blood pressure.

And while nearly 20% of Americans deal with seasonal allergies from airborne allergens, there’s not much you can do to avoid the situation, especially if you live in a geographical region with high pollen counts, like the Northeast, South, and Midwest. Let’s take a look at some of the worst places to be when the tank tops come out and the flowers start to bloom. 

10 Worst States for Allergies

Seasonal allergies affect everyone differently and can have different effects based on where you live. As we discussed before, air purifiers are an essential tool in protecting yourself from a bevy of health problems including sickness associated with mold and other airborne pollutants. So, if you find yourself living in one of the states below, (especially Virigina, graded as the worst state for allergies!) perhaps it’s time to pull the trigger on a Coway Airmega air purification system and gain the upper hand in the fight against pollen.

Grading Scale: 0-100 (100 is worst)

1. Virginia (93.93)
2. Kansas (89.09)
3. Connecticut (83.04)
4. Oklahoma (80.38)
5. Nevada (77.58)
6. Kentucky (74.52)
7. Pennsylvania (71.12)
8. Rhode Island (67.57)
9. New York (66.82)
10. Texas (66.61)

What Causes Seasonal Allergies?

In many places in the U.S., seasonal allergies begin in February—when the trees start to bud. And from then on, it’s month after month of grass pollen (which can also be year-round depending on location), mold spores, and ragweed—the worst culprit of all. Other plants like burning bush, cocklebur, lamb’s-quarters, pigweed, sagebrush, mugwort, tumbleweed, and Russian thistle rank as some of the top contributors to mild and major allergies, and should be identified and removed (if possible) from your property.

And if you’re one of those allergy sufferers who think they can outrun an itchy throat, think again. Seasonal allergies follow you everywhere, no matter what state you live in. So, instead of buying a new home and finding a new job, try simple solutions like removing your shoes before entering your home, eliminating pet hair from your home, bathing pets regularly, and staying indoors on dry windy days.

Other allergy prevention methods include:

• Avoiding lawn mowing, weed pulling, and gardening
• Removing outdoor clothes and showering to rinse pollen from your skin and hair
• Drying laundry indoors
• Wearing a mask for outdoor chores
• Closing windows and doors at night
• Avoiding early morning outdoor activity when pollen counts are highest

And if you want to take some extra precaution, check your city’s daily pollen count so you know when it’s safe to go outside.

How Air Purifiers Help with Seasonal Allergies

This may seem logical—if you breathe cleaner air, you’ll suffer less from airborne pollutants. Unfortunately, you can’t control the air quality outside your home or business. But, with an air purifier, you can control what you breathe indoors. But just because you’re indoors doesn’t mean you’re breathing cleaner air. In fact, indoor air can be more polluted than the air outdoors since mold spores, pet allergens, and pollen gets trapped between your closed doors and windows. So, what can you do? Simple—invest in allergy-mitigating products like an air purifier or humidifier to keep your eyes, skin, nose, ears, and throat clear during the heyday of hay fever.

For example, a Coway Airmega air purifier uses multiple layers of filtration, including a Green True HEPA™ filter, to remove over 99.999%¹ of all airborne contaminants down to 0.01 microns, exceeding the EPA’s recommendation.

Coway Airmega Smart Mode

Plus with the Coway Airmega Smart Mode feature, the Airmega automatically adapts to its surroundings by adjusting fan speeds based on the room's air quality, keeping your unit energy efficient without compromising effectiveness. Put simply, an investment in your air quality could lead to less money spent on allergy medications and doctor visits—and, you get the added protection of mold spore, pet dander, and viral filtration and removal including the ability to remove over 99.98%³ of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, so you and your family can live life without a stuffy nose or mind.

Clean Air for the Win

So, what can you do to limit your dependence on over-the-counter medications, keep yourself out of the allergist's office, and ensure you don’t wake up every morning with those embarrassing allergic shiners underneath your eyes that make you look like someone got the best of you in a UFC cage fight? Take a look at the entire line of Coway air purifier products and take a big sigh of allergy relief…without wheezing.