Bad Air Days in Atlantic County, New Jersey: 1 a Year

1 bad air day a year

Fewer bad air days than most monitored US counties. Ranked 685 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (60% particle days).

When the bad days come in Atlantic

Most bad days here fall in June and May. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.

What actually helps here

Bad air days are rare here. A standard furnace filter is enough; no purifier needed for outdoor air.
On the odd bad day, check AirNow and keep windows shut.

Better or worse than it was

In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 16 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2023, with 5 bad days on 365 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2023-06-08	265	PM2.5
2023-06-07	199	PM2.5
2022-06-20	185	PM2.5
2023-06-02	144	PM2.5
2016-05-25	129	Ozone

The air on a normal day

Across 3,641 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Atlantic County rated Good on 78% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 21%. The median day sat at AQI 38; one day in ten went above 56.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

ozone53%1,935 days
fine particles (PM2.5)47%1,706 days

Year by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	365	300	64	1	0	36	105
2024	366	302	64	0	0	35	97
2023	365	270	90	5	2	38	265
2022	365	316	48	1	1	36	185
2021	362	290	72	0	0	37	96
2020	359	286	73	0	0	37	90
2019	365	270	94	1	0	42	105
2018	365	277	87	1	0	41	112
2017	365	268	97	0	0	41	90
2016	364	270	93	1	0	41	129
2015	360	301	57	2	0	38	122
2014	363	311	51	1	1	39	172
2013	360	274	83	3	1	41	154
2012	356	246	101	9	2	41	154
2011	359	236	118	5	0	43	136
2010	365	233	123	9	0	44	150

*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.

Elsewhere in New Jersey

How this is counted

A bad air day is a day the county's daily AQI from EPA AirData went above 100, the level where EPA tells children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease to cut back outdoors. Monitors do not run every day, so yearly counts are scaled to 365 days. This is the record, not today's air: for that, check AirNow. More on the method in how the county numbers are made, on the AQI 100 line in what counts as a bad air day.