Insights: Iowa City, IA metro. Aggregated EPA AQS monitors across this Core-Based Statistical Area logged a median Air Quality Index of 36 over 304 measured days in 2025, which corresponds to a Good band and a Moderate metro-wide health grade. The monitored-day split lands at 216 Good days (71%), 84 Moderate (28%), and 3 Unhealthy-for-Sensitive-Groups (1%). The 90th-percentile AQI finished at 62 while the highest single-day reading hit 159 (Unhealthy). Metro residents averaged roughly 21.3 clean-air days per 30-day window across the reporting year.

Across the 2020–2025 trend window, good days shifted by +9 and the median AQI moved -11 points, which classifies the multi-year trajectory as improving. The metro recorded 1 unhealthy-or-worse days combined, on those days the EPA recommends that sensitive groups limit prolonged outdoor exertion, and many schools and athletic programs adjust outdoor activity accordingly. Metros with comparable AQI profiles include Augusta-Waterville, ME (83.5% good, AQI 36); Beatrice, NE (74.0% good, AQI 36); Eureka-Arcata-Fortuna, CA (83.2% good, AQI 36).