Bad Air Days in Kent County, Rhode Island: 2 a Year
2 bad air days a year
About the middle of monitored US counties. Ranked 442 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (13% 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 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.
Better or worse than it was
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 22 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 2. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2018, with 6 bad days on 354 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2016-05-26 | 147 | Ozone |
| 2018-05-02 | 140 | Ozone |
| 2021-06-05 | 140 | Ozone |
| 2016-07-22 | 133 | Ozone |
| 2017-05-18 | 133 | Ozone |
An ordinary day in Kent
Across 3,558 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Kent County rated Good on 89% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 10%. The median day sat at AQI 34; one day in ten went above 51.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)50%1,783 days
- ozone50%1,775 days
Every recent year on file
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 362 | 336 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 90 |
| 2024 | 357 | 332 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 97 |
| 2023 | 357 | 287 | 66 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 126 |
| 2022 | 358 | 334 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 100 |
| 2021 | 358 | 313 | 42 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 140 |
| 2020 | 358 | 326 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 133 |
| 2019 | 351 | 325 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 93 |
| 2018 | 354 | 294 | 54 | 6 | 0 | 36 | 140 |
| 2017 | 349 | 316 | 28 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 133 |
| 2016 | 354 | 307 | 42 | 5 | 0 | 35 | 147 |
| 2015 | 357 | 282 | 72 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 166 |
| 2014 | 365 | 325 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 97 |
| 2013 | 362 | 291 | 65 | 6 | 0 | 40 | 143 |
| 2012 | 363 | 286 | 70 | 7 | 0 | 39 | 140 |
| 2011 | 349 | 250 | 92 | 7 | 0 | 43 | 147 |
| 2010 | 356 | 278 | 72 | 6 | 0 | 38 | 136 |
*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, and on why a purifier does not touch ozone in smoke vs ozone.