Bad Air Days in Houston County, Alabama: under 1 a Year
under 1 bad air days a year
Rare: among the cleanest-air counties EPA monitors. Ranked 875 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (100% particle days).
The bad-air season here
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in January. 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.
The worst days on file
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 4 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2017, with 1 bad day on 281 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2017-01-13 | 131 | PM2.5 |
| 2016-05-24 | 97 | Ozone |
| 2018-05-08 | 80 | Ozone |
| 2018-02-22 | 79 | PM2.5 |
| 2019-03-24 | 77 | Ozone |
An ordinary day in Houston
Across 1,118 monitored days from 2016 to 2019, the air in Houston County rated Good on 84% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 16%. The median day sat at AQI 37; one day in ten went above 54.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- ozone67%751 days
- fine particles (PM2.5)33%367 days
Every recent year on file
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 280 | 230 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 77 |
| 2018 | 277 | 230 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 80 |
| 2017 | 281 | 237 | 43 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 131 |
| 2016 | 280 | 242 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 97 |
| 2015 | 283 | 241 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 74 |
| 2014 | 279 | 227 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 80 |
| 2013 | 285 | 238 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 84 |
| 2012 | 284 | 210 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 97 |
| 2011 | 283 | 181 | 102 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 100 |
| 2010 | 357 | 125 | 228 | 4 | 0 | 55 | 115 |
Nearby counties on file
- Jefferson County7/yr
- Shelby County2/yr
- Etowah Countyunder 1/yr
- Montgomery Countyunder 1/yr
- Mobile Countyunder 1/yr
- Madison Countyunder 1/yr
- Morgan Countyunder 1/yr
- Tuscaloosa 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.