Pickens County, South Carolina air quality history
Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Pickens, South Carolina, 1980–2019.
87%
Good days in 2018
40
Median daily AQI, 2018
0
Days above 100 in 2018
152
Days with an AQI in 2018 (of 365)
In 2018, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Pickens, South Carolina on 152 days. 132 of those days (87%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 40. That median is about the same as the typical monitored county in South Carolina (median 39 across 17 counties), and about the same as the typical monitored U.S. county (41). The main pollutant was ozone on 152 days. Across the years with fuller monitoring, the share of Good days rose: an average of 57% in 1980–1982 versus 87% in 2016–2018.
EPA did not report an AQI for every day of 2018 here (152 of 365 days). Figures describe monitored days only; seasonal monitoring (for example, ozone measured only in warmer months) can make a county look cleaner or dirtier than a full-year record would.
The most recent year with data for this county is 2019; EPA's files for 2020–2025 contain no row for it, which usually means its monitors stopped reporting.
Years with fewer than 120 monitored days (2019) are shown in the table but left out of comparisons and trend statements.
How the days broke down each year
Each bar is one year. The colored segments show the share of monitored days that fell in each AQI category.
Good
Moderate
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Unhealthy
Very Unhealthy
Hazardous
Typical and high-end AQI over time
The median is the middle day of the year. The 90th percentile is the level that only the highest 10% of days exceeded.
Median daily AQI
90th-percentile daily AQI
Main pollutant by day, 2018
On each monitored day, the AQI reflects whichever measured pollutant had the highest index. This counts how many days each pollutant set the AQI. A pollutant that was not measured here cannot appear.
Pollutant
Days as main pollutant
Share of monitored days
Ozone
152
100%
Year-by-year data
Annual AQI summary by year
Year
Days with AQI
Good
Moderate
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Unhealthy
Very Unhealthy
Hazardous
Median AQI
90th pct.
Max AQI
Main pollutant
2019
99
77
22
0
0
0
0
44
64
84
Ozone
2018
152
132
20
0
0
0
0
40
54
84
Ozone
2017
291
265
26
0
0
0
0
41
50
84
Ozone
2016
259
213
45
1
0
0
0
44
61
108
Ozone
2015
217
194
23
0
0
0
0
39
51
87
Ozone
2014
240
216
24
0
0
0
0
40
51
90
Ozone
2013
237
218
19
0
0
0
0
38
49
97
Ozone
2012
244
190
54
0
0
0
0
44
64
100
Ozone
2011
272
165
93
14
0
0
0
47
87
140
Ozone
2010
348
269
73
6
0
0
0
41
74
129
Ozone
2009
349
309
39
1
0
0
0
36
54
112
Ozone
2008
287
188
87
11
1
0
0
45
87
151
Ozone
2007
247
114
112
19
2
0
0
51
97
169
Ozone
2006
301
183
101
16
1
0
0
47
87
164
Ozone
2005
280
183
78
18
1
0
0
44
90
159
Ozone
2004
232
151
71
10
0
0
0
44
84
133
Ozone
2003
220
129
70
21
0
0
0
47
100
143
Ozone
2002
225
133
50
32
10
0
0
45
126
187
Ozone
2001
236
128
73
30
5
0
0
49
112
179
Ozone
2000
219
88
91
38
2
0
0
61
115
174
Ozone
1999
191
69
70
43
9
0
0
67
140
197
Ozone
1998
235
144
64
21
6
0
0
46
101
190
Ozone
1997
218
124
70
22
2
0
0
48
101
159
Ozone
1996
238
147
68
19
4
0
0
47
100
182
Ozone
1995
232
127
79
23
3
0
0
49
105
182
Ozone
1994
294
233
54
6
1
0
0
40
67
161
Ozone
1993
295
175
88
25
7
0
0
45
101
195
Ozone
1992
353
275
64
14
0
0
0
38
77
140
Ozone
1991
360
298
53
9
0
0
0
38
64
147
Ozone
1990
327
278
46
3
0
0
0
37
64
133
Ozone
1989
338
279
46
11
2
0
0
34
74
154
Ozone
1988
344
204
79
40
17
4
0
44
136
210
Ozone
1987
228
126
60
39
3
0
0
47
126
192
Ozone
1986
179
91
61
24
3
0
0
49
108
172
Ozone
1985
134
99
27
7
1
0
0
44
87
154
Ozone
1983
214
84
61
49
19
1
0
71
150
206
Ozone
1982
160
101
43
15
1
0
0
46
101
161
Ozone
1981
203
98
79
22
4
0
0
51
115
179
Ozone
1980
185
109
42
26
8
0
0
45
126
177
Ozone
What this data can and can’t tell you
It is a county-level summary. EPA reports one AQI per day for the county, based on the monitors operating there. Air at a particular street, school or home can differ, especially near roads, industry or wildfire smoke.
It is not a health assessment. The AQI is EPA’s scale for communicating daily air quality. A county’s history can’t tell you what the health risk is for any particular person. For daily conditions and health guidance, see AirNow.
Rules change over time. EPA has revised AQI breakpoints, most recently for fine particles in 2024, so some year-to-year change can reflect the scale rather than the air.
Counties in South Carolina with a similar median AQI in 2018
