Bad Air Days in Bay County, Florida: under 1 a Year

under 1 bad air days a year

Rare: among the cleanest-air counties EPA monitors. Ranked 845 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (75% particle days).

When the bad days come in Bay

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

Is a purifier worth it 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 15 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2020, with 2 bad days on 363 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2024-12-06	215	Ozone
2020-06-27	146	PM2.5
2020-02-28	131	PM2.5
2018-12-10	126	PM2.5
2018-05-08	100	Ozone

The air on a normal day

Across 3,585 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Bay County rated Good on 62% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 37%. The median day sat at AQI 46; one day in ten went above 59.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)73%2,600 days
ozone27%985 days

Year by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	360	239	121	0	0	44	92
2024	356	214	141	1	1	47	215
2023	365	176	189	0	0	51	95
2022	365	218	147	0	0	46	99
2021	365	228	137	0	0	46	78
2020	363	210	151	2	0	47	146
2019	357	240	117	0	0	44	87
2018	323	209	113	1	0	44	126
2017	365	227	138	0	0	46	97
2016	366	279	87	0	0	43	87
2015	365	254	111	0	0	43	84
2014	365	219	146	0	0	46	100
2013	364	227	135	2	0	46	144
2012	366	239	127	0	0	44	100
2011	364	174	187	3	0	51	105
2010	365	167	192	6	0	52	140

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

Nearby counties on file

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.