Air quality in Hinds County, MS

Includes Jackson · EPA monitor readings, 2021 to 2025 · 228,000 people

A few bad days a year
Bad-air days a year
1
day with an AQI over 100

5 bad-air days in 5 years of readings, 2021 to 2025. That's down from about 9 a year in the early 2000s. Hinds County has the 3rd most bad-air days of the 10 Mississippi counties with monitors.

0days unhealthy for everyoneAQI over 150, a year
52AQI on a typical dayModerate: fine for most people
7bad-air days since 2016Too few to show a season
115worst day since 2016Jun 8, 2023, 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 52 (Moderate)Worst day 115 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Good0 to 50Moderate51 to 100Sensitive groups101 to 150Unhealthy151 to 200Very unhealthy201 to 300Hazardous301 to 500

Bad-air days by month in Hinds County

Bad air is rare here: 7 bad-air days in 10 years of daily readings since 2016, too few to show a season. Each tile is the average for that month.

Jan0
Feb0.2
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun0.3
Jul0
Aug0.1
Sep0
Oct0.1
Nov0
Dec0

The worst day since 2016 was June 8, 2023: AQI 115, from ozone.

What causes it

The 7 bad-air days since 2016 were 5 fine-particle days (between August 2018 and February 2023) and 2 ozone days (in June 2023 and October 2023).

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.

JFMarch: 0.0 ozone days a yearMApril: 0.5 ozone days a yearAMay: 0.7 ozone days a yearMJune: 0.2 smoky days a yearJune: 1.6 ozone days a yearJJuly: 0.0 smoky days a yearJuly: 0.4 ozone days a yearJAugust: 0.5 ozone days a yearASeptember: 0.1 smoky days a yearSeptember: 0.5 ozone days a yearSOctober: 0.1 ozone days a yearONDbad daysby month
See the numbers by month
CDC estimated bad-air days a year in each month in Hinds County, 2001 to 2022
MonthFine particlesOzone
January00
February00
March00
April00.5
May00.7
June0.21.6
July00.4
August00.5
September0.10.5
October00.1
November00
December00

What helps in Hinds County

The air here is clean most days: 7 bad-air days in 10 years of daily readings. Wildfire smoke can still drift in from far away, so it's worth being ready.

Check tomorrow's forecast

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

AirNow →

Keep a cheap backup

A box fan with a MERV 13 filter clamped to it cleans a room in a pinch.

Build one →

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 2000

Bad-air days each year. The striped part is days unhealthy for everyone, over AQI 150. The worst recent year was 2023, with 3 bad-air days.

05101520253020002320052010201520202025051015202530200023201020202025
Unhealthy for sensitive groups (101 to 150)Unhealthy or worse (over 150)
See the numbers by year
Bad-air days each year in Hinds County
YearBad-air daysOver 150
2000231
2001100
200272
200330
200410
2005111
2006120
200750
200820
200910
201010
201170
201231
201300
201411
201500
201600
201700
201810
201900
202010
202100
202220
202330
202400
202500

Hinds County and its neighbors

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

Hinds County1

Nearest counties with a full report: Ouachita Parish, LA (under 1 bad-air days a year), Bolivar County, MS (under 1 bad-air day a year), East Baton Rouge Parish, LA (4 bad-air days a year).

Questions people ask about air in Hinds County

How often is the air bad in Hinds County?

From 2021 to 2025, monitors in Hinds County recorded about 1 bad-air day a year with an AQI above 100, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. The worst year in that stretch was 2023, with 3 bad-air days.

What causes bad air in Hinds County?

The 7 bad-air days since 2016 were 5 fine-particle days (between August 2018 and February 2023) and 2 ozone days (in June 2023 and October 2023).

Where can I see today's air quality in Hinds 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 Hinds County is about 52, which is moderate, fine for most people. 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 365 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 Hinds 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.