Bad Air Days in Licking County, Ohio: under 1 a Year

under 1 bad air day a year

Fewer bad air days than most monitored US counties. Ranked 709 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (0% particle days).

Which months to watch

Most bad days here fall in June and April. 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.

The record for Licking

In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 27 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2016, with 3 bad days on 214 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2025-06-12	119	Ozone
2022-06-21	115	Ozone
2016-04-18	108	Ozone
2016-06-11	105	Ozone
2022-06-29	105	Ozone

An ordinary day in Licking

Across 2,419 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Licking County rated Good on 88% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 12%. The median day sat at AQI 40; one day in ten went above 54.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

ozone100%2,419 days

Year by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	245	210	34	1	0	40	119
2024	245	205	40	0	0	42	100
2023	245	209	36	0	0	43	97
2022	245	226	17	2	0	39	115
2021	245	227	18	0	0	38	87
2020	245	230	15	0	0	37	77
2019	245	223	22	0	0	41	80
2018	245	210	35	0	0	40	100
2017	245	221	24	0	0	39	100
2016	214	172	39	3	0	43	108
2015	213	177	34	2	0	42	108
2014	214	192	22	0	0	41	100
2013	214	190	23	1	0	41	105
2012	212	125	70	17	2	47	200
2011	214	158	48	8	0	44	140
2010	214	129	75	10	0	46	136

*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.

Elsewhere in Ohio

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.