Wisconsin Air Quality
EPA monitor data through 2025 · Updated August 13, 2026 · Methods
In 2025, Wisconsin recorded 32 days above an Air Quality Index of 100, the level at which EPA begins warning sensitive groups, out of 365 days with monitoring data. Most of those bad days were driven by ozone and fine particles equally. Under the AQI rules that applied before 2013, the same air would have scored 23 days. Since 2000, unhealthy days are 28% higher on a consistent definition.
How to read a statewide figure. The Air Quality Index describes one place at one time. A statewide number is the worst monitor anywhere in the state on each day, so it answers “was the air unhealthy somewhere in Wisconsin?” — not “what did a typical resident breathe?” In a large state with many monitors it will read high even if most of the state was clean. EPA publishes the AQI for metropolitan areas rather than states for exactly this reason. For what people actually breathed, use the metro pages below.
Unhealthy days by year, scored two ways
EPA changed what an AQI of 100 means in 2013 and again in 2015, so a count published before those changes is not comparable to one published after. Each panel below applies a single fixed rulebook to every year, so each is internally consistent. Why this matters.
Scored by today's rules
Scored by the pre-2013 rules
What 2025 looked like
| Air quality category | Days | Share of monitored days |
|---|---|---|
| Good | 176 | 48% |
| Moderate | 157 | 43% |
| Unhealthy for sensitive groups | 20 | 5% |
| Unhealthy or worse | 12 | 3% |
Median AQI 52 · 90th-percentile AQI 97 · worst day 188. Scored under current rules.
What drove the unhealthy days
Of the 32 days above 100 in 2025, 16 were driven by ozone and 16 by fine particles. The two behave differently. Ozone peaks on hot sunny afternoons; fine particles now spike mainly with wildfire smoke. In the eastern United States, ozone has stopped responding to emission cuts: nitrogen oxide emissions kept falling after 2014 and ambient ozone barely moved.
The unhealthy days in 2025
Every day the index passed 100, what it reached, and which pollutant drove it. 9 of these 32 would not have counted as unhealthy under the pre-2013 rules.
| Date | Peak AQI | Driven by | Pre-2013 score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2 | 105 | Ozone | 90 (not unhealthy) |
| Jun 3 | 188 | Fine particles | 176 |
| Jun 4 | 154 | Fine particles | 139 |
| Jun 5 | 126 | Fine particles | 111 |
| Jun 11 | 128 | Fine particles | 112 |
| Jun 12 | 113 | Fine particles | 100 (not unhealthy) |
| Jun 16 | 126 | Ozone | 106 |
| Jun 20 | 101 | Ozone | 87 (not unhealthy) |
| Jun 29 | 129 | Ozone | 109 |
| Jul 3 | 105 | Ozone | 90 (not unhealthy) |
| Jul 12 | 166 | Fine particles | 157 |
| Jul 13 | 164 | Fine particles | 156 |
| Jul 14 | 112 | Ozone | 97 (not unhealthy) |
| Jul 15 | 156 | Ozone | 132 |
| Jul 23 | 119 | Ozone | 101 |
| Jul 25 | 150 | Fine particles | 130 |
| Jul 29 | 157 | Fine particles | 147 |
| Jul 30 | 184 | Fine particles | 172 |
| Jul 31 | 179 | Fine particles | 168 |
| Aug 1 | 163 | Fine particles | 155 |
| Aug 2 | 160 | Fine particles | 153 |
| Aug 3 | 160 | Fine particles | 152 |
| Aug 4 | 158 | Fine particles | 151 |
| Aug 5 | 142 | Fine particles | 124 |
| Aug 6 | 115 | Ozone | 100 (not unhealthy) |
| Aug 7 | 126 | Ozone | 106 |
| Aug 8 | 101 | Ozone | 87 (not unhealthy) |
| Aug 15 | 122 | Ozone | 104 |
| Sep 12 | 119 | Ozone | 101 |
| Sep 18 | 108 | Ozone | 93 (not unhealthy) |
| Oct 3 | 122 | Ozone | 104 |
| Oct 4 | 115 | Ozone | 100 (not unhealthy) |
Metro areas in Wisconsin
Ranked by unhealthy days in their latest year. These are the geographies EPA actually reports the AQI for.
| Metro area | Unhealthy days | Pre-2013 rules | Main driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 32 | 24 | ozone |
| Duluth, MN-WI | 23 | 18 | fine particles |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 18 | 11 | fine particles |
| Green Bay, WI | 12 | 9 | fine particles |
| Eau Claire, WI | 11 | 8 | fine particles |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 11 | 9 | fine particles |
| Appleton, WI | 9 | 9 | fine particles |
| Beaver Dam, WI | 7 | 6 | fine particles |
| Madison, WI | 7 | 2 | fine particles |
| Baraboo, WI | 6 | 3 | fine particles |
| Platteville, WI | 3 | 3 | fine particles |
| La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN | 0 | 0 | ozone and fine particles equally |
The full series
| Year | Unhealthy days, current rules | Pre-2013 rules | Days monitored |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 40 | 18 | 366 |
| 2001 | 55 | 46 | 365 |
| 2002 | 54 | 38 | 365 |
| 2003 | 43 | 30 | 365 |
| 2004 | 25 | 16 | 366 |
| 2005 | 60 | 44 | 365 |
| 2006 | 31 | 17 | 365 |
| 2007 | 48 | 33 | 365 |
| 2008 | 24 | 12 | 366 |
| 2009 | 21 | 13 | 365 |
| 2010 | 26 | 16 | 365 |
| 2011 | 27 | 14 | 365 |
| 2012 | 49 | 37 | 366 |
| 2013 | 15 | 7 | 365 |
| 2014 | 17 | 9 | 365 |
| 2015 | 16 | 9 | 365 |
| 2016 | 22 | 11 | 366 |
| 2017 | 17 | 9 | 365 |
| 2018 | 18 | 10 | 365 |
| 2019 | 8 | 2 | 365 |
| 2020 | 17 | 11 | 366 |
| 2021 | 27 | 13 | 365 |
| 2022 | 12 | 7 | 365 |
| 2023 | 49 | 36 | 365 |
| 2024 | 19 | 9 | 366 |
| 2025 | 32 | 23 | 365 |
Sources
- EPA AirData daily monitor files, recomputed under both breakpoint tables. Methods and validation.
- Download the full dataset for every state and metro.