Putnam County, Tennessee air quality history

Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Putnam, Tennessee, 1995–2025.

90%

Good days in 2025

Median daily AQI, 2025

Days above 100 in 2025

359

Days with an AQI in 2025 (of 365)

In 2025, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Putnam, Tennessee on 359 days. 323 of those days (90%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 30. That median is lower than the typical monitored county in Tennessee (median 39 across 23 counties), and lower than the typical monitored U.S. county (40). The main pollutant was fine particles (PM2.5) on 359 days. Across the years with fuller monitoring, the share of Good days rose: an average of 53% in 1995–1998 versus 82% in 2023–2025.

Years with fewer than 120 monitored days (2004, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015…) 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, 2025

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
Fine particles (PM2.5)	359	100%

Year-by-year data

Annual AQI summary by year
Year	Days with AQI	Good	Moderate	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Unhealthy	Very Unhealthy	Median AQI	90th pct.	Max AQI	Main pollutant
2025	359	323	36	0	0	0	30	51	66	PM2.5
2024	361	302	59	0	0	0	32	53	74	PM2.5
2023	356	258	97	1	0	0	38	58	109	PM2.5
2022	347	289	58	0	0	0	32	53	81	PM2.5
2021	356	268	88	0	0	0	36	58	91	PM2.5
2020	359	310	48	1	0	0	31	52	105	PM2.5
2019	360	291	69	0	0	0	33	54	67	PM2.5
2018	352	268	84	0	0	0	36	56	68	PM2.5
2017	296	206	90	0	0	0	42	57	73	PM2.5
2016	122	87	35	0	0	0	39	55	89	PM2.5
2015	118	81	37	0	0	0	37	58	65	PM2.5
2014	109	63	46	0	0	0	46	62	85	PM2.5
2013	113	73	40	0	0	0	44	59	70	PM2.5
2008	60	60	0	0	0	0	30	36	44	Ozone
2007	325	168	141	15	1	0	49	93	161	Ozone
2006	109	34	75	0	0	0	56	74	97	PM2.5
2005	121	37	79	4	1	0	57	82	152	PM2.5
2004	111	33	78	0	0	0	56	72	89	PM2.5
2003	279	125	135	18	1	0	54	93	177	Ozone
2002	272	117	113	36	6	0	54	119	185	Ozone
2001	268	125	125	18	0	0	54	97	147	Ozone
2000	271	85	137	40	9	0	64	119	182	Ozone
1999	251	83	106	53	8	1	71	129	201	Ozone
1998	214	74	80	47	13	0	67	140	187	Ozone
1997	209	84	91	31	3	0	61	119	172	Ozone
1996	66	64	2	0	0	0	31	42	54	Ozone
1995	151	127	20	4	0	0	34	71	147	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 Tennessee with a similar median AQI in 2025

All monitored counties in Tennessee

Source: U.S. EPA AirData, “Annual AQI by County” files for 1995–2025 (EPA download page). EPA file dates: 2026-06-26. Imported into EnviroNearby November 5, 2026. How we use this data · Report a problem