Bad Air Days in Lane County, Oregon: 16 a Year
16 bad air days a year
Among the worst tenth of monitored US counties. Ranked 46 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (99% particle days).
Which months to watch
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in September and August and October. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
What to buy, and what not to
- 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.
The worst days on file
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 26 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 16. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2022, with 39 bad days on 365 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-09-12 | 1000 | PM2.5 |
| 2020-09-10 | 880 | PM2.5 |
| 2020-09-13 | 855 | PM2.5 |
| 2020-09-11 | 740 | PM2.5 |
| 2020-09-08 | 699 | PM2.5 |
An ordinary day in Lane
Across 3,653 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Lane County rated Good on 58% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 38%. The median day sat at AQI 45; one day in ten went above 80.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)78%2,864 days
- ozone21%774 days
Lane County by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 206 | 153 | 6 | 1 | 46 | 153 |
| 2024 | 366 | 219 | 131 | 16 | 6 | 44 | 216 |
| 2023 | 365 | 190 | 159 | 16 | 7 | 49 | 211 |
| 2022 | 365 | 194 | 132 | 39 | 34 | 44 | 520 |
| 2021 | 365 | 214 | 131 | 20 | 14 | 44 | 230 |
| 2020 | 366 | 203 | 149 | 14 | 10 | 46 | 1000 |
| 2019 | 365 | 216 | 141 | 8 | 0 | 44 | 117 |
| 2018 | 365 | 213 | 144 | 8 | 1 | 44 | 156 |
| 2017 | 365 | 200 | 135 | 30 | 14 | 46 | 509 |
| 2016 | 366 | 256 | 109 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 108 |
| 2015 | 365 | 213 | 137 | 15 | 2 | 44 | 199 |
| 2014 | 365 | 190 | 158 | 17 | 0 | 49 | 135 |
| 2013 | 365 | 202 | 142 | 21 | 1 | 46 | 165 |
| 2012 | 366 | 211 | 147 | 8 | 0 | 44 | 149 |
| 2011 | 365 | 208 | 141 | 16 | 1 | 46 | 151 |
| 2010 | 365 | 202 | 158 | 5 | 0 | 47 | 127 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Nearby counties on file
- Klamath County20/yr
- Josephine County17/yr
- Jackson County16/yr
- Deschutes County14/yr
- Lake County10/yr
- Harney County7/yr
- Crook County7/yr
- Clackamas 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.