Bad Air Days in Kalamazoo County, Michigan: 4 a Year
4 bad air days a year
About the middle of monitored US counties. Ranked 289 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (37% particle days).
When the bad days come in Kalamazoo
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in June and July and May. 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.
Better or worse than it was
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 19 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 4. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2023, with 9 bad days on 358 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-06-27 | 225 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-06-28 | 193 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-06-29 | 189 | PM2.5 |
| 2025-07-31 | 156 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-07-25 | 140 | PM2.5 |
Most days, not the worst ones
Across 3,559 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Kalamazoo County rated Good on 60% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 39%. The median day sat at AQI 46; one day in ten went above 66.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)68%2,405 days
- ozone32%1,154 days
Year by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 224 | 134 | 7 | 1 | 43 | 156 |
| 2024 | 366 | 234 | 132 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 100 |
| 2023 | 358 | 151 | 198 | 9 | 3 | 53 | 225 |
| 2022 | 352 | 177 | 172 | 3 | 0 | 50 | 134 |
| 2021 | 349 | 177 | 172 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 100 |
| 2020 | 323 | 239 | 78 | 6 | 0 | 41 | 115 |
| 2019 | 362 | 260 | 102 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 87 |
| 2018 | 356 | 217 | 135 | 4 | 0 | 44 | 115 |
| 2017 | 365 | 223 | 141 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 101 |
| 2016 | 363 | 221 | 134 | 8 | 0 | 44 | 119 |
| 2015 | 359 | 206 | 152 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 101 |
| 2014 | 363 | 175 | 186 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 108 |
| 2013 | 241 | 165 | 75 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 105 |
| 2012 | 243 | 130 | 93 | 20 | 2 | 48 | 192 |
| 2011 | 231 | 152 | 71 | 8 | 0 | 43 | 133 |
| 2010 | 242 | 148 | 93 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 119 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Nearby counties on file
- Wayne County11/yr
- Marquette County9/yr
- Muskegon County9/yr
- Allegan County9/yr
- Berrien County8/yr
- Macomb County7/yr
- Cass County6/yr
- Oakland County6/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.