Bad Air Days in DeSoto County, Mississippi: 2 a Year
2 bad air days a year
About the middle of monitored US counties. Ranked 444 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (17% particle days).
When the bad days come in DeSoto
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in June and May and August and October. 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 26 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 2. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2023, with 7 bad days on 360 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-06-06 | 159 | Ozone |
| 2025-08-19 | 143 | Ozone |
| 2019-09-17 | 136 | Ozone |
| 2021-06-14 | 136 | Ozone |
| 2024-06-14 | 136 | Ozone |
The air on a normal day
Across 3,604 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in DeSoto County rated Good on 58% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 41%. The median day sat at AQI 47; one day in ten went above 63.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)76%2,734 days
- ozone24%870 days
Year by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 252 | 112 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 143 |
| 2024 | 366 | 208 | 154 | 4 | 0 | 47 | 136 |
| 2023 | 360 | 122 | 231 | 7 | 0 | 54 | 134 |
| 2022 | 365 | 211 | 148 | 6 | 0 | 48 | 133 |
| 2021 | 364 | 228 | 135 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 136 |
| 2020 | 365 | 246 | 119 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 100 |
| 2019 | 364 | 222 | 141 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 136 |
| 2018 | 365 | 199 | 163 | 3 | 1 | 49 | 159 |
| 2017 | 365 | 221 | 144 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 100 |
| 2016 | 325 | 186 | 138 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 115 |
| 2015 | 365 | 216 | 149 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 88 |
| 2014 | 365 | 193 | 171 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 112 |
| 2013 | 365 | 203 | 161 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 112 |
| 2012 | 363 | 160 | 189 | 14 | 1 | 52 | 151 |
| 2011 | 338 | 147 | 187 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 129 |
| 2010 | 365 | 138 | 219 | 8 | 0 | 54 | 147 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Elsewhere in Mississippi
- Harrison County1/yr
- Jackson Countyunder 1/yr
- Hinds Countyunder 1/yr
- Bolivar Countyunder 1/yr
- Forrest Countyunder 1/yr
- Lee Countyunder 1/yr
- Hancock Countyunder 1/yr
- Yalobusha Countyunder 1/yr
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, and on why a purifier does not touch ozone in smoke vs ozone.