Air Quality in Kentucky

Kentucky earns an average Air Quality Grade of B, with a 5-year median AQI of 42 across 27 monitored areas — right around the national average of 41. The grade combines four signals — 5-year median AQI, 10-year trend direction, count of unhealthy days per year, and dominant pollutant — into a single A-F score. Kentucky's 27 monitored areas collectively logged 167 days at "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" or worse over the last five years.

Air quality in Kentucky has held roughly steady over the past decade — 11 areas improving, 6 worsening, and 10 stable. That stability makes the state-average grade a reliable signal of what residents can expect.

The dominant pollutant across 16 of 27 Kentucky areas is Ground-Level Ozone. Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with vehicle and industrial emissions. It is worst on hot, sunny, stagnant summer days. Ozone irritates the lungs and triggers asthma — even healthy adults can feel it after exercising on high-ozone days. Other monitored areas in the state report Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) (11) as their dominant pollutant.

Within Kentucky, the gap between best and worst is meaningful: Pike, Kentucky tops the state with a Grade B and 5-year median AQI of 39, while Henderson, Kentucky sits at the bottom with a Grade D and 5-year median AQI of 53. Local terrain, prevailing winds, and proximity to industrial or wildfire emission sources drive most of that within-state variation.

Pike, Kentucky is the fastest-improving area in Kentucky, with median AQI falling by 1.6 points per year over the EPA reporting period. Steady improvement at that pace usually reflects fleet turnover (older diesels retiring), upwind power-plant retirements, and tighter local emissions controls.