Bad Air Days in Rock Island County, Illinois: 3 a Year
3 bad air days a year
About the middle of monitored US counties. Ranked 374 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (33% 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 actually helps 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 worst days on file
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 3 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 3. Not much has changed. The worst recent year was 2023, with 20 bad days on 365 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-06-28 | 232 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-06-27 | 197 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-06-29 | 167 | PM2.5 |
| 2025-07-31 | 167 | PM2.5 |
| 2023-07-16 | 155 | PM2.5 |
An ordinary day in Rock Island
Across 3,604 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Rock Island County rated Good on 65% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 34%. The median day sat at AQI 44; one day in ten went above 62.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)57%2,058 days
- ozone43%1,546 days
Rock Island County by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 244 | 119 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 167 |
| 2024 | 366 | 277 | 89 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 84 |
| 2023 | 365 | 178 | 167 | 20 | 4 | 51 | 232 |
| 2022 | 360 | 214 | 146 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 90 |
| 2021 | 361 | 191 | 167 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 112 |
| 2020 | 355 | 234 | 120 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 102 |
| 2019 | 361 | 221 | 138 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 115 |
| 2018 | 365 | 212 | 152 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 101 |
| 2017 | 363 | 270 | 93 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 93 |
| 2016 | 343 | 298 | 44 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 108 |
| 2015 | 365 | 308 | 56 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 105 |
| 2014 | 349 | 311 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 74 |
| 2013 | 335 | 320 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 77 |
| 2012 | 359 | 331 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 101 |
| 2011 | 365 | 358 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 74 |
| 2010 | 363 | 332 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 80 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Illinois compared
- Cook County18/yr
- Lake County9/yr
- Madison County8/yr
- Kane County7/yr
- McHenry County7/yr
- DuPage County5/yr
- Jersey County5/yr
- Peoria County4/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.