Bad Air Days in Mitchell County, North Carolina: under 1 a Year

under 1 bad air day a year

Fewer bad air days than most monitored US counties. Ranked 735 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (100% particle days).

When the bad days come in Mitchell

Most bad days here fall in November and January and June and July. 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

The worst recent year was 2016, with 4 bad days on 232 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2016-11-23	162	PM2.5
2016-11-22	160	PM2.5
2016-11-14	156	PM2.5
2016-11-13	140	PM2.5
2023-07-17	104	PM2.5

Most days, not the worst ones

Across 3,367 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Mitchell County rated Good on 83% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 17%. The median day sat at AQI 31; one day in ten went above 53.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)100%3,367 days

Year by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	357	291	65	1	0	31	102
2024	341	288	53	0	0	31	93
2023	353	281	71	1	0	33	104
2022	346	298	48	0	0	31	69
2021	356	296	60	0	0	31	82
2020	356	328	27	1	0	26	103
2019	333	290	43	0	0	29	63
2018	355	287	68	0	0	27	80
2017	338	266	72	0	0	34	93
2016	232	172	56	4	3	37	162
2015	120	88	32	0	0	39	63
2014	120	79	41	0	0	42	69
2013	118	76	42	0	0	42	71
2012	118	74	44	0	0	44	71
2011	117	57	60	0	0	51	78
2010	121	53	68	0	0	52	70

*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.