Bad Air Days in Jackson County, Missouri: 1 a Year
1 bad air day a year
Fewer bad air days than most monitored US counties. Ranked 590 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 August and March and July and September. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
What to buy, and what not to
- 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 2 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 1. Not much has changed. The worst recent year was 2021, with 5 bad days on 365 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-03-14 | 293 | PM10 |
| 2020-07-04 | 159 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-09-07 | 155 | PM2.5 |
| 2025-08-01 | 154 | PM2.5 |
| 2021-07-04 | 147 | PM2.5 |
The air on a normal day
Across 3,653 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Jackson County rated Good on 51% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 49%. The median day sat at AQI 49; one day in ten went above 64.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)84%3,078 days
- coarse dust (PM10)9%336 days
- nitrogen dioxide7%239 days
Every recent year on file
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 209 | 153 | 3 | 2 | 47 | 293 |
| 2024 | 366 | 217 | 148 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 109 |
| 2023 | 365 | 171 | 192 | 2 | 1 | 52 | 155 |
| 2022 | 365 | 160 | 205 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 93 |
| 2021 | 365 | 132 | 228 | 5 | 0 | 53 | 147 |
| 2020 | 366 | 175 | 188 | 3 | 1 | 51 | 159 |
| 2019 | 365 | 192 | 173 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 93 |
| 2018 | 365 | 223 | 142 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 77 |
| 2017 | 365 | 173 | 192 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 98 |
| 2016 | 366 | 213 | 152 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 105 |
| 2015 | 365 | 200 | 163 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 117 |
| 2014 | 365 | 190 | 174 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 108 |
| 2013 | 365 | 168 | 197 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 93 |
| 2012 | 366 | 146 | 220 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 92 |
| 2011 | 365 | 142 | 221 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 104 |
| 2010 | 365 | 114 | 250 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 119 |
*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.