Bad Air Days in Rutland County, Vermont: under 1 a Year

under 1 bad air days a year

Rare: among the cleanest-air counties EPA monitors. Ranked 856 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 Rutland

Most bad days here fall in 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.

The worst days on file

In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 2 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. Not much has changed. The worst recent year was 2023, with 2 bad days on 364 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2023-07-01	147	PM2.5
2025-07-26	130	PM2.5
2021-07-26	114	PM2.5
2023-07-18	109	PM2.5
2025-08-04	100	PM2.5

The air on a normal day

Across 3,651 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Rutland County rated Good on 76% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 24%. The median day sat at AQI 39; one day in ten went above 58.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)52%1,887 days
ozone48%1,748 days

Year by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	364	283	80	1	37	130
2024	366	291	75	0	37	86
2023	364	267	95	2	38	147
2022	365	278	87	0	39	74
2021	365	265	99	1	40	114
2020	366	283	83	0	39	97
2019	365	281	84	0	40	89
2018	365	264	101	0	39	90
2017	365	268	97	0	40	87
2016	366	290	76	0	38	89
2015	365	225	137	3	40	121
2014	365	221	141	3	39	114
2013	362	202	157	3	46	128
2012	366	190	172	4	49	108
2011	365	159	200	6	52	116
2010	365	233	131	1	38	109

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

Elsewhere in Vermont

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.