Bad Air Days in Sumter County, Georgia: under 1 a Year
under 1 bad air days a year
Rare: among the cleanest-air counties EPA monitors. Ranked 927 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (0% 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. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
What to buy, and what not to
- 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 16 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2016, with 1 bad day on 245 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2016-06-09 | 101 | Ozone |
| 2019-05-07 | 97 | Ozone |
| 2019-06-04 | 93 | Ozone |
| 2022-03-04 | 93 | Ozone |
| 2016-06-10 | 90 | Ozone |
Most days, not the worst ones
Across 2,177 monitored days from 2016 to 2024, the air in Sumter County rated Good on 93% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 7%. The median day sat at AQI 36; one day in ten went above 49.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- ozone100%2,177 days
Every recent year on file
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 244 | 228 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 84 |
| 2023 | 245 | 225 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 87 |
| 2022 | 238 | 224 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 93 |
| 2021 | 245 | 228 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 74 |
| 2020 | 240 | 237 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 64 |
| 2019 | 238 | 211 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 97 |
| 2018 | 241 | 219 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 80 |
| 2017 | 241 | 229 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 67 |
| 2016 | 245 | 218 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 101 |
| 2015 | 245 | 236 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 129 |
| 2014 | 244 | 229 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 77 |
| 2013 | 245 | 232 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 80 |
| 2012 | 233 | 204 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 97 |
| 2011 | 232 | 171 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 100 |
| 2010 | 234 | 189 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 108 |
Elsewhere in Georgia
- Wilkinson Countythin data
- Fulton County6/yr
- Henry County4/yr
- Douglas County4/yr
- Rockdale County3/yr
- DeKalb County3/yr
- Dougherty County3/yr
- Muscogee County3/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.