Is the Air Quality Good in Josephine, Oregon?
Mostly — air quality in Josephine, Oregon is fair, not pristine. The city earns a Grade of C (fair) on a 5-year median AQI of 38 (Good), with 96 unhealthy-air days over five years (about 19 per year). Healthy adults are fine most of the time, but sensitive groups should watch the daily forecast.
Who Can Safely Breathe the Air in Josephine, Oregon?
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 PM2.5 penetrates deep into the lungs and bloodstream, an N95 or KN95 mask provides meaningful protection on smoky or high-particulate days — surgical masks do not.
Across the past five years, this area has logged 96 days where AQI rose into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or worse — about 19 days per year. That is roughly typical for a U.S. metro, with most caution days clustered in summer (ozone) or wildfire season.
Josephine, Oregon Air Quality Snapshot
| Air Quality Grade | C53/100 |
| 5-Year Median AQI | 38 (Good) |
| Most Recent Median AQI (2023) | 44 (Good) |
| Dominant Pollutant | Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) |
| 10-Year Trend | Worsening (+0.53 AQI/yr) |
| Unhealthy Days (last 5 yr) | 96 |
| National Rank (cleanest = #1) | #354 of 1,020 (35th cleanest percentile) |
| Oregon Rank | #17 of 23 |
What Does the C Grade Mean?
Josephine, Oregon 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.
Josephine, Oregon'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 Oregon, Josephine, Oregon runs more polluted than the state average of 34 — local sources or geography are concentrating pollution above the state's typical reading.
For context within Oregon: Jefferson, Oregon currently holds the state's cleanest grade (A, AQI 28), while Douglas, Oregon sits at the bottom (C, AQI 36).
What's in Josephine, Oregon's Air?
The dominant pollutant in Josephine, Oregon is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5). Fine particulate matter — particles less than 2.5 micrometers across — comes mostly from combustion: vehicle exhaust, wildfire smoke, residential wood burning, and industrial emissions. Because these particles are small enough to enter the bloodstream, PM2.5 is the pollutant most strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and premature death.
Days by Dominant Pollutant (2023)
| Pollutant | Days as Dominant | Share of Year |
|---|---|---|
| Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) | 365 | 100% |
Is the Air Getting Better or Worse?
Air quality in Josephine, Oregon 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, Josephine, Oregon posted a median AQI of 31. By 2023 that figure was 44 — a rise of 13 AQI points dirtier across 10 years of EPA records.
Year-by-Year AQI in Josephine, Oregon
| Year | Median AQI | Good Days | Unhealthy Days | Dominant Pollutant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 31 | 264 | 2 | PM2.5 |
| 2015 | 37 | 241 | 6 | PM2.5 |
| 2016 | 38 | 286 | 0 | PM2.5 |
| 2017 | 42 | 219 | 21 | PM2.5 |
| 2018 | 47 | 195 | 39 | PM2.5 |
| 2019 | 34 | 251 | 5 | PM2.5 |
| 2020 | 35 | 228 | 26 | PM2.5 |
| 2021 | 36 | 240 | 19 | PM2.5 |
| 2022 | 39 | 208 | 15 | PM2.5 |
| 2023 | 44 | 205 | 31 | PM2.5 |
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.
More about Josephine, Oregon
Josephine, Oregon has an Air Quality Grade of C (fair) with a 5-year median AQI of 38. The dominant pollutant is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), and air quality has been worsening over the past decade.
The data source behind this answer is the EPA Air Quality System (AQS). Every figure on the page traces back to that source; the methodology page describes the inputs and the refresh cadence in full detail.
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.