Bad Air Days in Kent County, Maryland: 2 a Year
2 bad air days a year
About the middle of monitored US counties. Ranked 467 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (18% 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 May and July. 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.
The worst days on file
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 38 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 2. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2023, with 7 bad days on 361 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-06-08 | 199 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-06-07 | 166 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-06-29 | 160 | PM2.5 |
| 2016-05-25 | 150 | Ozone |
| 2017-07-20 | 147 | Ozone |
Most days, not the worst ones
Across 3,592 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Kent County rated Good on 77% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 23%. The median day sat at AQI 41; one day in ten went above 59.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- ozone54%1,950 days
- fine particles (PM2.5)46%1,642 days
Kent County by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 356 | 299 | 56 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 129 |
| 2024 | 362 | 289 | 71 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 105 |
| 2023 | 361 | 276 | 78 | 7 | 3 | 41 | 199 |
| 2022 | 361 | 292 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 93 |
| 2021 | 357 | 284 | 72 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 108 |
| 2020 | 359 | 333 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 100 |
| 2019 | 360 | 272 | 87 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 101 |
| 2018 | 361 | 262 | 96 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 119 |
| 2017 | 358 | 194 | 161 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 147 |
| 2016 | 357 | 259 | 94 | 4 | 0 | 42 | 150 |
| 2015 | 347 | 188 | 152 | 7 | 0 | 49 | 108 |
| 2014 | 351 | 221 | 129 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 112 |
| 2013 | 353 | 213 | 138 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 126 |
| 2012 | 356 | 142 | 188 | 26 | 7 | 54 | 190 |
| 2011 | 348 | 163 | 169 | 16 | 3 | 52 | 187 |
| 2010 | 271 | 157 | 100 | 14 | 1 | 46 | 169 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Nearby counties on file
- Baltimore County8/yr
- Harford County7/yr
- Anne Arundel County5/yr
- Prince George's County5/yr
- Cecil County4/yr
- Baltimore City4/yr
- Frederick County2/yr
- Charles 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.