Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Macrophages play a significant role in asthma pathogenesis. This study explored the current status of macrophage research in asthma using bibliometric analysis. The Web of Science core collection database was searched for original articles on related research, published from database inception until December 31, 2023. CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used to create visual network diagrams of keywords, countries, and institutional et al. co-occurrences. 587 articles met the screening criteria from 42 countries, 741 institutions, and 3382 authors. The number of articles grew slowly from 1981 to 2019 and then increased significantly. The top three countries in terms of number of publications were the USA, China, and the UK. The USA has the highest citation frequency, and China has the latest average publication time. The three institutions with the most publications were Newcastle University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Fudan University. Barnes, P.J. is one of the most influential scholars in the field. The journals with the most relevant publications and co-citation frequency both were the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The article with the highest number of citations was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology by Brian L. et al. The keywords were divided into three clusters: cluster 1 focused on chemokine and signal pathways; cluster 2 focused on immune cells interaction; and cluster 3 focused on inflammation in the airway. The most frequently used keywords in recent studies are polarization, innate lymphoid cells, and phagocytosis. This study is the first bibliometric analysis of macrophage research in asthma, revealing the development trend and current research hotspots in the field. This can provide valuable and effective information about the current status of the field for related scholars, thus promoting the development of the field.