Bad Air Days in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama: under 1 a Year

under 1 bad air days a year

Rare: among the cleanest-air counties EPA monitors. Ranked 832 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (75% particle days).

Which months to watch

Most bad days here fall in March and June. 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 10 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2024, with 2 bad days on 359 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2024-03-20	125	PM2.5
2017-03-09	123	PM2.5
2018-06-07	115	Ozone
2024-03-21	110	PM2.5
2016-06-09	100	Ozone

An ordinary day in Tuscaloosa

Across 3,221 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Tuscaloosa County rated Good on 69% of them, close to the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 31%. The median day sat at AQI 42; one day in ten went above 58.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)57%1,833 days
ozone43%1,388 days

Tuscaloosa County by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	360	265	95	0	41	93
2024	359	318	39	2	37	125
2023	365	255	110	0	42	87
2022	280	240	40	0	37	87
2021	280	246	34	0	34	90
2020	278	247	31	0	34	97
2019	264	217	47	0	39	87
2018	320	223	96	1	42	115
2017	350	92	257	1	57	123
2016	365	107	258	0	54	100
2015	357	94	263	0	56	91
2014	280	224	56	0	38	93
2013	281	227	54	0	40	72
2012	283	226	57	0	39	93
2011	279	206	72	1	40	103
2010	365	47	318	0	60	90

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

Elsewhere in Alabama

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.