With the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization in China, the ecological environment has been damaged, especially the air quality, which has brought troubles to the production and life of residents. China has taken various measures to improve air quality, and industrial upgrading is one of the measures. How can industrial upgrading improve air quality? This article uses the urban and provincial data from 2015 to 2018, adopts a multilevel growth model, and draws the following conclusions through empirical analysis.Companies aiming at economic profit and survival will eventually lead to overall industrial upgrades that have little effect on air improvement.Industrial structure adjustment under the effect of industrial upgrading can reduce air pollution and have a significant impact on the improvement of air quality.Industrial upgrading under the effect of time will inevitably reduce the impact on environmental pollution, which is conducive to the improvement of air quality.According to the empirical results, this paper puts forward some suggestions to improve the air quality.