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AirHistory

Goodhue, Minnesota Air Quality Today

AirHistory tracks long-run EPA monitoring rather than live readings, so for the live number check AirNow.gov below. As a baseline, Goodhue, Minnesota's most recent EPA year (2023) posted a median AQI of 43 (Good) against a 5-year median of 38 and an overall Grade of C. The dominant pollutant is Ground-Level Ozone, which tells you which days are most likely to spike.

Check Today's Live AQI in Goodhue, Minnesota

AirHistory is built on 10 years of EPA Air Quality System records, so it shows you what air quality in Goodhue, Minnesota typically looks like — not the live reading for this exact hour. For today's real-time AQI, check AirNow.gov (the EPA's official live index) or the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map during wildfire season.

That said, the history is the best predictor of a normal day. In 2023, Goodhue, Minnesota posted a median AQI of 43 (Good), with 198 "Good" days and 5 days that crossed into "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" or worse. The dominant pollutant, Ground-Level Ozone, is the one most likely to push today's number up — Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions. It is worst on hot, sunny, stagnant summer days. Ozone irritates the lungs, triggers asthma attacks, and reduces lung function — even healthy adults can feel chest tightness and shortness of breath after exercising in elevated ozone.

Goodhue, Minnesota Air Quality Snapshot

Air Quality GradeC63/100
5-Year Median AQI38 (Good)
Most Recent Median AQI (2023)43 (Good)
Dominant PollutantGround-Level Ozone
10-Year TrendWorsening (+0.48 AQI/yr)
Unhealthy Days (last 5 yr)5
National Rank (cleanest = #1)#388 of 1,020 (38th cleanest percentile)
Minnesota Rank#10 of 21

What Does the C Grade Mean?

Goodhue, Minnesota earns a C — air quality is fair, but not great. With a 5-year median AQI of 38, the city sees a meaningful number of "Moderate" days each year, when the EPA flags air as a concern for unusually sensitive people.

Goodhue, Minnesota's 5-year median AQI of 38 is 3 points below the national average of 41 — meaningfully cleaner than the typical U.S. metro tracked here. Within Minnesota, Goodhue, Minnesota runs more polluted than the state average of 36 — local sources or geography are concentrating pollution above the state's typical reading.

For context within Minnesota: Cook, Minnesota currently holds the state's cleanest grade (A, AQI 12), while Cass, Minnesota sits at the bottom (C, AQI 32).

What's in Goodhue, Minnesota's Air?

The dominant pollutant in Goodhue, Minnesota is Ground-Level Ozone. Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions. It is worst on hot, sunny, stagnant summer days. Ozone irritates the lungs, triggers asthma attacks, and reduces lung function — even healthy adults can feel chest tightness and shortness of breath after exercising in elevated ozone.

Days by Dominant Pollutant (2023)

PollutantDays as DominantShare of Year
Ground-Level Ozone238100%

Is the Air Getting Better or Worse?

Air quality in Goodhue, Minnesota has been getting worse over the past decade, with median AQI climbing by roughly 0.5 points per year. That bucks the national trend of broad improvement, and most often reflects either growing wildfire smoke exposure (particularly across the West) or rising local emissions from population and freight growth.

In 2014, Goodhue, Minnesota posted a median AQI of 38. By 2023 that figure was 43 — a rise of 5 AQI points dirtier across 10 years of EPA records.

Year-by-Year AQI in Goodhue, Minnesota

YearMedian AQIGood DaysUnhealthy DaysDominant Pollutant
2014381980Ozone
2015372020Ozone
2016342020Ozone
2017342300Ozone
2018382061Ozone
2019372030Ozone
2020352010Ozone
2021391930Ozone
2022382100Ozone
2023431985Ozone

Health Context for Goodhue, Minnesota

Across the past five years, this area has logged just 5 days where AQI rose into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or worse — about 1 days per year, or roughly one every other month. That is a low count by national standards.

Healthy adults can continue normal outdoor activity in most weather, but should pay attention to AQI alerts during the worst pollution windows. People with asthma, heart disease, or pregnancy should reduce prolonged or intense outdoor exertion on flagged days, and consider running an indoor HEPA air cleaner during peak season. Because ozone peaks in the afternoon on hot sunny days, plan outdoor exercise for early morning or after sunset on bad-air days.

How This Grade Is Calculated

The AirHistory Air Quality Grade combines four signals: the 5-year median AQI (40% of the score), the 10-year trend direction (30%), the count of unhealthy days per year (20%), and the dominant pollutant type (10%). All four come directly from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), which aggregates readings from federally certified monitors. Read the full methodology.

Goodhue, Minnesota has an Air Quality Grade of C (fair) with a 5-year median AQI of 38. The dominant pollutant is Ground-Level Ozone, and air quality has been worsening over the past decade.

This answer pulls from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), the authoritative federal source for U.S. air quality and pollution monitoring. The headline number above is the direct answer; what follows is the additional context most readers need to use the answer for a real decision rather than just a fact lookup.

For readers turning this answer into action: cross-reference against the underlying the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) record before acting on time-sensitive decisions. The site renders the data as it was published; subsequent revisions can shift the picture, and the live federal data is always the authoritative current reference.

Source: EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data, 2026.