Bad Air Days in Wright County, Minnesota: 5 a Year

5 bad air days a year

More bad air days than three quarters of monitored counties. Ranked 247 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: a mix of particles and ozone (53% particle days).

When the bad days come in Wright

Most bad days here fall in May and July and 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 6 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 5. Not much has changed. The worst recent year was 2023, with 21 bad days on 349 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2021-07-29	193	PM2.5
2023-06-14	186	PM2.5
2025-06-03	170	PM2.5
2021-07-30	168	PM2.5
2023-06-20	164	Ozone

The air on a normal day

Across 3,587 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Wright County rated Good on 74% of them, close to the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 25%. The median day sat at AQI 40; one day in ten went above 63.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)55%1,983 days
ozone45%1,604 days

Year by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	349	255	84	10	4	39	170
2024	366	277	86	3	0	41	110
2023	349	183	145	21	3	49	186
2022	356	278	78	0	0	41	90
2021	357	233	119	5	2	43	193
2020	357	289	67	1	0	37	112
2019	362	289	73	0	0	36	90
2018	365	271	91	3	0	42	122
2017	365	277	88	0	0	39	100
2016	361	306	53	2	0	36	140
2015	357	301	56	0	0	37	94
2014	353	281	71	1	0	37	112
2013	357	250	107	0	0	39	90
2012	366	246	120	0	0	43	100
2011	365	179	185	1	0	51	105
2010	353	171	178	4	0	51	125

*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.