Bad Air Days in Jefferson County, Kentucky: 9 a Year
9 bad air days a year
More bad air days than three quarters of monitored counties. Ranked 101 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (13% particle days).
Which months to watch
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in June and July and September and August. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
What actually helps here
- Ozone drives many bad days here. Purifiers and filters do not remove ozone, so do not buy one for that. Ozone peaks on hot afternoons: exercise outside in the morning.
The record for Jefferson
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 31 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 9. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2023, with 16 bad days on 365 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-06-28 | 171 | PM2.5 |
| 2018-07-13 | 166 | Ozone |
| 2018-07-14 | 156 | Ozone |
| 2024-06-12 | 156 | Ozone |
| 2025-07-05 | 153 | PM2.5 |
An ordinary day in Jefferson
Across 3,653 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Jefferson County rated Good on 39% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 58%. The median day sat at AQI 53; one day in ten went above 72.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)71%2,601 days
- ozone28%1,009 days
- nitrogen dioxide1%43 days
Year by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 188 | 167 | 10 | 1 | 49 | 153 |
| 2024 | 366 | 186 | 168 | 12 | 1 | 50 | 156 |
| 2023 | 365 | 123 | 226 | 16 | 1 | 55 | 171 |
| 2022 | 365 | 147 | 211 | 7 | 0 | 53 | 136 |
| 2021 | 365 | 138 | 221 | 6 | 0 | 54 | 126 |
| 2020 | 366 | 151 | 208 | 7 | 0 | 52 | 115 |
| 2019 | 365 | 124 | 239 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 136 |
| 2018 | 365 | 125 | 232 | 8 | 2 | 54 | 166 |
| 2017 | 365 | 133 | 228 | 4 | 0 | 54 | 112 |
| 2016 | 366 | 121 | 230 | 15 | 1 | 54 | 151 |
| 2015 | 365 | 113 | 243 | 9 | 4 | 55 | 174 |
| 2014 | 365 | 90 | 271 | 4 | 1 | 58 | 169 |
| 2013 | 365 | 68 | 297 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 97 |
| 2012 | 366 | 77 | 261 | 28 | 6 | 58 | 202 |
| 2011 | 365 | 130 | 210 | 25 | 3 | 55 | 177 |
| 2010 | 365 | 207 | 132 | 26 | 3 | 45 | 177 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Kentucky compared
- Oldham County3/yr
- Henderson County2/yr
- Campbell County2/yr
- Boone County2/yr
- Bullitt County2/yr
- McCracken County2/yr
- Daviess County2/yr
- Hancock County2/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.