Bad Air Days in Fayette County, Kentucky: under 1 a Year

under 1 bad air days a year

Rare: among the cleanest-air counties EPA monitors. Ranked 848 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (100% particle days).

Which months to watch

Most bad days here fall in June and November. 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.

The worst days on file

In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 11 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2023, with 2 bad days on 365 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2023-06-28	167	PM2.5
2023-06-29	128	PM2.5
2021-11-07	108	PM2.5
2022-11-09	106	PM2.5
2023-06-24	100	Ozone

An ordinary day in Fayette

Across 3,613 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Fayette County rated Good on 67% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 33%. The median day sat at AQI 44; one day in ten went above 60.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)62%2,242 days
ozone36%1,294 days
nitrogen dioxide2%74 days

Fayette County by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	364	273	91	0	0	40	100
2024	336	266	70	0	0	41	77
2023	365	232	131	2	1	45	167
2022	365	235	129	1	0	44	106
2021	363	214	148	1	0	47	108
2020	366	258	108	0	0	42	86
2019	364	231	133	0	0	46	80
2018	364	202	162	0	0	48	87
2017	364	249	115	0	0	44	97
2016	362	257	105	0	0	43	93
2015	364	250	109	5	0	42	139
2014	365	215	150	0	0	47	93
2013	365	172	193	0	0	52	83
2012	366	146	202	18	1	53	151
2011	365	137	221	7	0	54	133
2010	365	155	204	6	0	53	115

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

Kentucky compared

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.