Air quality in Okaloosa County, FL

Includes Crestview, Fort Walton Beach and Destin · EPA monitor readings, 2021 to 2025 (ozone only) · 212,000 people

Clean most daysOnly ozone is measured
Bad-air days a year
<1
day with an AQI over 100

No bad-air days from 2021 to 2025. Okaloosa County is tied with 7 other Florida counties for the fewest bad-air days of the 38 with monitors.

0days unhealthy for everyoneAQI over 150, a year
36AQI on a typical dayGood: fine for everyone
Cleanevery month since 2016No bad-air days in the daily readings
87worst day since 2016May 10, 2017, ozone
How to read the AQIThe EPA's air score runs from 0 to 500. Higher is worse. Over 100 counts as a bad-air day.
Typical day 36 (Good)Worst day 87 (Moderate)
Good0 to 50Moderate51 to 100Sensitive groups101 to 150Unhealthy151 to 200Very unhealthy201 to 300Hazardous301 to 500

Bad-air days by month in Okaloosa County

Monitors here recorded no bad-air days in 9 years of daily readings since 2016. Every month is clear.

Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun0
Jul0
Aug0
Sep0
Oct0
Nov0
Dec0

The worst day since 2016 was May 10, 2017: AQI 87, from ozone.

What causes it

Ozone is the only pollutant measured here. Monitors here recorded no bad-air days since 2016. Monitors here don't measure fine particles, so smoky days aren't in these counts.

CDC's model estimates about 0.0 days a year with high fine particles at the county's worst spot, 2018 to 2022. See the estimates on the map

CDC estimates by month, 2001 to 2022

The CDC's model counts bad-air days at the county's worst spot, from monitors and satellites. Particles (brown) fill the inside of the ring and ozone (blue) the outside.

JFebruary: 0.0 ozone days a yearFMarch: 0.1 ozone days a yearMApril: 1.0 ozone days a yearAMay: 0.0 smoky days a yearMay: 1.5 ozone days a yearMJune: 1.4 ozone days a yearJJuly: 0.1 smoky days a yearJuly: 0.5 ozone days a yearJAugust: 0.4 ozone days a yearASeptember: 0.0 smoky days a yearSeptember: 0.6 ozone days a yearSOctober: 0.5 ozone days a yearONovember: 0.0 ozone days a yearNDbad daysby month
See the numbers by month
CDC estimated bad-air days a year in each month in Okaloosa County, 2001 to 2022
MonthFine particlesOzone
January00
February00
March00.1
April01.0
May01.5
June01.4
July0.10.5
August00.4
September00.6
October00.5
November00
December00

What helps in Okaloosa County

Monitors here track ozone, which builds on hot afternoons, so timing helps. They don't track smoke, so it's worth having a clean room ready too.

Move workouts to the morning

Ozone peaks on hot, sunny afternoons. Mornings are usually cleaner.

Ozone guide →

Check tomorrow's forecast

AirNow posts an air quality forecast by ZIP code, usually the day before.

AirNow →

Keep one room clean on smoky days

Shut the windows and run an air purifier sized for the room.

Choosing a purifier →

For today's reading and tomorrow's forecast, check AirNow by ZIP code. Its fire and smoke map adds smoke plumes.

Smoky days are rare here, so a purifier is optional. If you want one for wildfire season anyway, see the 3 models we'd buy, each with a verified smoke rating.

Every year since 2009

Bad-air days each year. The striped part is days unhealthy for everyone, over AQI 150. No year from 2021 to 2025 had a bad-air day.

01234520092010320152020202501234520092010320202025
Unhealthy for sensitive groups (101 to 150)Unhealthy or worse (over 150)
See the numbers by year
Bad-air days each year in Okaloosa County
YearBad-air daysOver 150
200910
201030
201120
201200
201300
201410
201500
201600
201700
201800
201900
202000
202100
202300
202400
202500

Okaloosa County and its neighbors

Bad-air days a year, 2021 to 2025. Florida counties with monitors averaged about 1 bad-air day a year, weighted by population.

Santa Rosa County<1
Okaloosa County<1

Nearest counties with a full report: Escambia County, FL (under 1 bad-air day a year), Baldwin County, AL (under 1 bad-air days a year).

Questions people ask about air in Okaloosa County

How often is the air bad in Okaloosa County?

From 2021 to 2025, monitors in Okaloosa County recorded almost no bad-air days a year with an AQI above 100, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. No year from 2021 to 2025 had a bad-air day.

What causes bad air in Okaloosa County?

Monitors here recorded no bad-air days since 2016. Monitors here don't measure fine particles, so smoky days aren't in these counts.

Where can I see today's air quality in Okaloosa County?

AirNow, run by the EPA and its partners, shows the current AQI and tomorrow's forecast for your ZIP code. Its fire and smoke map adds smoke plumes. On a typical day the AQI in Okaloosa County is about 36, which is good, fine for everyone. Bad days are rare here, so check it when wildfire smoke is in the news.

About these numbers

Day counts come from the EPA's county air quality summaries, which take the worst reading across a county's monitors each day. Monitors here reported on about 333 days a year from 2021 to 2025. A county is large, and your street can be cleaner or worse. CDC's model, which estimates every county from monitors and satellites, gives the worst spot in Okaloosa County almost no high-particle days and almost no high-ozone days a year from 2018 to 2022.

Sources: EPA AirData county AQI summaries (2000 to 2025) and daily county AQI (2016 to 2025); CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network modeled PM2.5 and ozone (2001 to 2022). Updated November 8, 2026.