Bad Air Days in Jackson County, Oregon: 16 a Year

16 bad air days a year

Among the worst tenth of monitored US counties. Ranked 45 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (97% particle days).

When the bad days come in Jackson

Most bad days here fall in August and September and July. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.

Is a purifier worth it here?

Particles (wildfire smoke, dust) cause enough bad days here to matter. A HEPA purifier sized to your bedroom removes them; run it with windows shut on bad days.
Upgrade the furnace or AC filter to MERV 13 so the whole house is filtered, not just one room.

Better or worse than it was

In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 11 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 16. It has got worse. The worst recent year was 2018, with 42 bad days on 364 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2020-09-12	900	PM2.5
2020-09-13	578	PM2.5
2020-09-11	572	PM2.5
2020-09-14	473	PM2.5
2017-09-06	461	PM2.5

Most days, not the worst ones

Across 3,652 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Jackson County rated Good on 62% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 34%. The median day sat at AQI 44; one day in ten went above 79.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)72%2,635 days
ozone28%1,017 days

Year by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	365	242	121	2	1	43	152
2024	366	262	99	5	1	41	155
2023	365	216	135	14	12	45	237
2022	365	211	146	8	3	44	165
2021	365	204	126	35	29	48	266
2020	366	218	133	15	13	44	900
2019	365	249	109	7	4	41	190
2018	364	190	132	42	31	48	258
2017	365	211	123	31	15	45	461
2016	366	263	103	0	0	41	83
2015	365	191	145	29	11	49	319
2014	365	218	145	2	0	45	121
2013	365	148	194	23	11	55	263
2012	366	196	167	3	0	49	110
2011	363	231	129	3	0	43	121
2010	365	262	103	0	0	39	93

*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.