Metro area air quality · 2025

Prineville, OR

Median AQI 28 (Good). 72.9% of monitored days rated Good across this metro's EPA monitoring network.

28
Median AQI
72.9%
Good-air days
0
Unhealthy days
51%
Cleaner than US metros

Prineville, OR posted a 2025 median AQI of 28 (Good) with 72.9% Good days

According to the U.S. EPA Air Quality System, the Prineville, OR CBSA recorded a median AQI of 28 across 365 monitored days in 2025, with 72.9% rated Good and 0 unhealthy or worse. This is an annual metro comparison, not a live advisory.

Data source EPA Air Quality System (AQS)

Cleaner than US metros
The Prineville, OR CBSA's 72.9% Good-day share places it cleaner than 51% of US metros in 2025.
Closest median-AQI peer
Butte-Silver Bow, MT (84.9% Good, median AQI 28) is the closest nationwide median-AQI peer to Prineville, OR.
2020–2025 Good-day shift
Prineville, OR's Good-day share moved +0.6 points from 2020 to 2025 (median AQI +0).
Median AQI
Median AQI: 28

Aggregated from EPA Air Quality System (2025), 365 monitored days. EPA AQS →

The verdict

Prineville, OR's median AQI 28 is in the lower (cleaner) CBSA tercile on this site. On the EPA scale the metro runs good, cleaner than the median US metro, with a median AQI of 28 and 72.9% of 365 monitored days in the Good band.

28
median AQI · Good
72.9%
days rated Good
51%
cleaner than US metros
144
worst single reading

No day crossed into the Unhealthy tier across the metro's monitors in 2025.

Annual release change

What changed in the 2025 EPA annual release

2024 → 2025
  • Prineville, OR metro's Good-day share fell from 78.1% to 73.3% between the 2024 and 2025 EPA annual releases, a change of -4.8 percentage points.
  • Prineville, OR metro's Unhealthy-category days fell from 3 to 0 between the 2024 and 2025 EPA annual releases, a change of -3 days.
  • Prineville, OR metro's peak single-day AQI fell from 173 to 144 between the 2024 and 2025 EPA annual releases, a change of -29 points.
  • Prineville, OR metro's median AQI rose from 24 to 28 between the 2024 and 2025 EPA annual releases, a change of +4 points.

Compared against 361 monitored days in 2024 and 363 in 2025. These are arithmetic differences between two stored EPA annual summaries, not a cause claim or a live advisory.

National release changes Two-year CSV

Prineville, OR's median AQI 28 is in the lower (cleaner) CBSA tercile on this site. Signature read: median AQI 28 (low tercile vs CBSA corpus). Aggregated EPA AQS monitors across this Core-Based Statistical Area logged a median Air Quality Index of 28 over 365 measured days in 2025 (Good / Moderate). The monitored-day split lands at 266 Good (73%), 97 Moderate (27%), and 2 Unhealthy-for-Sensitive-Groups (1%). The 90th-percentile AQI finished at 65; the highest single-day reading hit 144 (USG).

Across 2020–2025, Good-day share shifted +0.6 points and median AQI moved +0 (stable). No Unhealthy-tier days appear in this annual dataset. Metros with comparable AQI profiles include Butte-Silver Bow, MT (84.9% good, AQI 28); Dodge City, KS (89.8% good, AQI 28); Moses Lake, WA (79.7% good, AQI 28).

Health effects of air pollution →

Air Quality Summary

Median AQI

28

Good

Good Days

72.9%

266 of 365 days

Max AQI

144

USG

Health Grade

Moderate

90th pct: 65

AQI Day Breakdown (2025)

Distribution of 365 monitored days across EPA AQI categories.

Good

266

73%

Moderate

97

27%

USG

2

1%

Unhealthy

0

0%

Very Unhealthy

0

0%

Hazardous

0

0%

Health Impact Assessment

Moderate

The Prineville, OR metro area's air quality is rated Moderate based on 72.9% good air days. No unhealthy air days were recorded in 2025.

Air quality is generally acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should monitor real-time conditions at AirNow.gov during high-pollution events.

How does the Prineville, OR metro compare?

How Prineville, OR compares

Good-day share better than typical
Prineville, OR 72.9%
Butte-Silver Bow, MT 84.9%
Typical US metro 70.6%
Median AQI better than typical
Prineville, OR 28
Butte-Silver Bow, MT 28
Typical US metro 41
Unhealthy days / yr better than typical
Prineville, OR 0
Butte-Silver Bow, MT 0
Typical US metro 1

5-Year Air Quality Trend

Air quality is stable in the Prineville, OR metro. Highest Good-day share: 2022 (80.7%, 288 of 357 monitored days).

Year Good Moderate Unhealthy Median AQI
2020 261 97 1 28
2021 281 75 3 28
2022 288 69 0 24
2023 267 86 6 33
2024 282 76 3 24
2025 266 97 0 28

Metros with a similar median AQI

CBSA peers nationwide whose annual median AQI sits near Prineville, OR (28).

Butte-Silver Bow, MT

Median AQI 28 · 84.9% Good-day share

28

Dodge City, KS

Median AQI 28 · 89.8% Good-day share

28

Moses Lake, WA

Median AQI 28 · 79.7% Good-day share

28

Aberdeen, SD

Median AQI 27 · 83.6% Good-day share

27

Albany, OR

Median AQI 27 · 80.0% Good-day share

27

Anchorage, AK

Median AQI 27 · 77.5% Good-day share

27

Metros with similar unhealthy-day exposure

A second relationship type: metros whose unhealthy-or-worse day count is closest to Prineville, OR's 0 (independent of median AQI).

Aberdeen, WA

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 22

22

Adrian, MI

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 41

41

Akron, OH

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 45

45

Albany, GA

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 46

46

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 41

41

Alexandria, LA

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 37

37

Frequently Asked Questions

What does AQI 28 mean for health? ▼
An AQI of 28 is "Good", air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no health risk. This is the best category on the EPA's AQI scale.
How many unhealthy air days does Prineville, OR have? ▼
In 2025, the Prineville, OR metro area recorded 0 unhealthy air days (0 Unhealthy, 0 Very Unhealthy, 0 Hazardous). The maximum AQI reached 144.
What is the air quality in the Prineville, OR metro area? ▼
The Prineville, OR metro area has a median Air Quality Index (AQI) of 28, rated "Good." 72.9% of monitored days (266 out of 365) had good air quality in 2025.
Is air quality in Prineville, OR getting better or worse? ▼
Air quality in the Prineville, OR metro is stable across floor-qualifying years (2020-2025); years with fewer than 100 monitored days are excluded from that direction. Highest qualifying Good-day share: 2022 at 80.7% (288 of 357 days). Lowest qualifying Good-day share: 2020 at 72.7% (261 of 359 days).
How does Prineville, OR compare to other metro areas? ▼
The Prineville, OR metro has 72.9% good air days. Similar metros: Butte-Silver Bow, MT (84.9% good), Dodge City, KS (89.8% good), Moses Lake, WA (79.7% good).
What is the 90th percentile AQI for Prineville, OR? ▼
The 90th percentile AQI for the Prineville, OR metro area is 65, meaning 90% of monitored days had an AQI at or below this level. The maximum AQI recorded was 144 (USG).

Data Sources

Primary Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Air Quality System (AQS), Annual AQI by CBSA dataset for Prineville, OR, 2025. See our methodology for how AQI, median, and coverage figures are computed.

Read our methodology , how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Source: U.S. EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by CBSA summary, Prineville, OR · 2020–2025