As one of the most polluted provinces in China, air pollution events occur frequently in Shandong. Based on the hourly (or daily) concentrations of six air pollutants (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , NO 2 , SO 2 and CO), the situations of air quality improvement in three kinds of cities (key cities, coastal cities and general cities) are assessed comprehensively during 2014–2020. Contrary to the daily maximum 8-h average ozone (MDA8 O 3 ), the annual average concentrations of other pollutants show the downward trends during 2014–2020. Therein, the improvement rates of annual average concentrations of air pollutants in key cities are highest. By 2020, the day proportions of O 3 as the primary pollutant are up to 38% in three kinds of cities. Besides, due to the impact of COVID-19, the monthly average concentrations of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 , SO 2 and CO in February 2020 decrease by 32.1–49.5% year-on-year. There are still about 50% of population exposed to high-risk regions ( R i > 2), which are mainly concentrated in main urban areas and industrial areas. Thus, the adjustment of industrial structure and energy composition in the context of carbon peak and carbon neutrality should be implemented in the future. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13762-022-04651-5.