Sixteen types of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were included in the priority control pollutants listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Herein, the emission rates and emission sources of these 16 PAHs in Taiyuan city were investigated. Results showed that the overall emission amount of the 16 PAHs in the year of 2010 in Taiyuan was 332.10t, in which 35.11t was identified as carcinogenic PAHs. Most of the PAHs were generated from the combustion of household coal and coke-production coal, accounting for 65% of the total emission amount. Among the emissions of 16 PAHs, less-ring PAHs were the majority (81%) while the carcinogenic PAHs only accounted for 10.6%. For the different districts (10 in total) in Taiyuan, the PAHs emitted from Qingxu were 87t/a, greatly more than that from Gujiao (54t/a), Jinyuan (44t/a), and Jiancaoping (40t/a). In general, there were a negative correlation between per capita income and per GDP emissions of PAHs (R2=0.727), and a positive correlation between the rural population and total PAHs emissions (R2=0.813). It was concluded that the heavy PAHs emission in Taiyuan was attributed to excessive combustion of coal for the household and industry and unique energy structure and special population in the countryside.