Bad Air Days in Sarasota County, Florida: under 1 a Year
under 1 bad air days a year
Rare: among the cleanest-air counties EPA monitors. Ranked 852 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (25% particle days).
Which months to watch
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in May and October. 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
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 14 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2017, with 2 bad days on 360 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-10-03 | 143 | PM2.5 |
| 2017-05-09 | 115 | Ozone |
| 2017-05-10 | 115 | Ozone |
| 2024-05-30 | 115 | Ozone |
| 2019-03-23 | 100 | Ozone |
An ordinary day in Sarasota
Across 3,635 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Sarasota County rated Good on 65% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 35%. The median day sat at AQI 45; one day in ten went above 59.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)70%2,539 days
- ozone30%1,096 days
Year by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 236 | 129 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 84 |
| 2024 | 360 | 242 | 117 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 115 |
| 2023 | 365 | 232 | 132 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 143 |
| 2022 | 358 | 234 | 124 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 100 |
| 2021 | 365 | 241 | 124 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 90 |
| 2020 | 366 | 244 | 122 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 90 |
| 2019 | 365 | 268 | 97 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 100 |
| 2018 | 365 | 239 | 126 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 97 |
| 2017 | 360 | 198 | 160 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 115 |
| 2016 | 366 | 223 | 143 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 97 |
| 2015 | 365 | 227 | 137 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 105 |
| 2014 | 365 | 202 | 162 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 105 |
| 2013 | 365 | 223 | 138 | 4 | 0 | 47 | 122 |
| 2012 | 366 | 158 | 205 | 3 | 0 | 52 | 119 |
| 2011 | 365 | 156 | 202 | 7 | 0 | 52 | 143 |
| 2010 | 365 | 66 | 294 | 5 | 0 | 56 | 133 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Nearby counties on file
- Hillsborough County3/yr
- Miami-Dade County3/yr
- Duval County2/yr
- Broward County1/yr
- Osceola County1/yr
- Orange Countyunder 1/yr
- Polk Countyunder 1/yr
- Pinellas Countyunder 1/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.