Aerosols are an inextricably linked component of the atmosphere. Nowadays the study of aerosols has attracted the attention of the world community due to the increasing concerns over air pollution and climate change. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is the measure of aerosols distributed within the atmospheric column from the Earth's surface to the top of the atmosphere. This study was conducted to examine the trend in AOD between latitudes 22° and 24.62° N, and longitudes 83.26° and 87.01° E, covering the entire part of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Mann–Kendall (MK) trend test and Sen’s slope estimator model were used to examining the trend over 18 years (period: 2000–2017) AOD data obtained from satellite-based sensor namely MODIS. The highest AOD was observed in the north-eastern part, while the lowest was observed in the state’s southwestern part. The mean relative percentage change (RPC) analysis showed that the AOD increased from 20 to 60%. Jharkhand State comprises various sub-regions; all the sub-regions, including major cities, have shown a remarkable positive trend. In particular, Dhanbad, Sahibganj, Chaibasa, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, and Hazaribagh demonstrate statistically significant positive trends (99% confidence level). It was observed that the highest positive trend (0.1228) and the lowest negative trend (−0.02587) were in Sahibganj and Gumla districts, respectively. This study revealed a statistically robust significant correlated pattern of AOD with the variability of meteorological factors.