Bad Air Days in Wayne County, New York: 1 a Year

1 bad air day a year

Fewer bad air days than most monitored US counties. Ranked 628 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (0% particle days).

Which months to watch

Most bad days here fall in 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 record for Wayne

In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 10 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 1. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2018, with 4 bad days on 239 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2016-05-25	136	Ozone
2016-05-24	119	Ozone
2018-07-09	115	Ozone
2023-05-31	112	Ozone
2018-05-26	108	Ozone

An ordinary day in Wayne

Across 3,244 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Wayne County rated Good on 94% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 6%. The median day sat at AQI 34; one day in ten went above 47.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

ozone100%3,244 days

Wayne County by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	354	339	15	0	33	90
2024	354	339	15	0	33	87
2023	348	328	17	3	33	112
2022	343	333	9	1	33	101
2021	354	333	21	0	33	100
2020	327	305	22	0	34	80
2019	268	253	15	0	35	90
2018	239	210	25	4	38	115
2017	306	287	18	1	36	101
2016	351	321	28	2	34	136
2015	304	293	11	0	31	93
2014	345	324	20	1	35	119
2013	302	275	27	0	33	93
2012	272	234	34	4	33	126
2011	216	211	5	0	26	97
2010	216	188	24	4	35	112

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

Nearby counties on file

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.