Flint Real-Time AQI Tracker
Get Alerts For Unhealthy AQI In Your Area
When air quality in your area reaches unhealthy levels, we'll send you a quick alert, along with expert tips on how to reduce your exposure.
What's Actually In Flint Air Today?
What High AQI Means for Your Lungs in Flint
How to Read AQI
The Air Quality Index (AQI) measures how polluted the air is and how it may affect your health.
0–50 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory.
51–100 (Moderate): Acceptable, but some pollutants may pose minor concerns.
101–150 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups)
151–200 (Unhealthy)
201–300 (Very Unhealthy)
301+ (Hazardous)
Moderate
Still okay for most, but if you have asthma or allergies, take it easy and avoid long outdoor workouts.
Shop MERV 11 filters→What's the Right Filter for Your AQI Level?
Check Today's Live Real Time Air Quality Index AQI Map in Flint, MI Now
TL;DR
Filterbuy's live AQI map above shows Flint's air quality in real time and refreshes every hour. If it reads green (0–50), go about your day. Once it turns orange, sensitive groups should cut back on hard outdoor activity, and at red everyone should. Most of Flint's bad-air days trace back to summer ozone or Canadian wildfire smoke.
Key Takeaways
Flint's official monitor, run by Michigan EGLE, has reported from Crossroads Village since February 2026.
Canadian wildfire smoke pushed Flint's PM2.5 AQI to 219, in the Very Unhealthy range, on June 27, 2023.
In a Filterbuy model run, the NowCast AQI trailed a smoke plume by 42 points as it arrived and read 79 points high as it cleared.
How to Read the Flint Air Quality Map Above
The map shows Flint's current air quality index (AQI) on a 0–500 scale, where a higher number means dirtier air. Read the color first, then check which pollutant is driving it.
Flint's official AQI comes from a single state monitor. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) moved the station to Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad Park after vandals stole equipment from the old Whaley Park site in June 2025. Flint went without an official monitor for about eight months, right through the 2025 smoke season, so expect gaps if you look up Flint's 2025 history on a data site.
Compare Filterbuy's Michigan live AQI map and Lansing live AQI map.
What Each Flint AQI Color Means for Your Day
Once a reading passes 100, the air is above the national health standard for at least one pollutant. Filterbuy's AQI color chart guide explains each category.
| AQI | Category | What to do in Flint |
|---|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good (green) | Normal plans and your usual filter. |
| 51–100 | Moderate (yellow) | Fine for most people. Get a MERV 13 and spares in place before smoke arrives. At 100, start the four steps below. |
| 101–150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (orange) | Follow the four steps below. Children, older adults, and people with heart or lung disease should limit long or hard outdoor activity. |
| 151–200 | Unhealthy (red) | Everyone should cut back outdoors. Keep the four steps in place, check the filter more often, and keep replacements on hand. |
| 201–300 | Very Unhealthy (purple) | Follow AirNow and Genesee County Health Department guidance first. Keep the four steps and use a cleaner air room; filtration is only one layer. |
| 301+ | Hazardous (maroon) | Follow EGLE and local authorities first, including any instruction to relocate. The four steps support their guidance. |
AQI categories and colors: U.S. EPA AirNow. The actions at 100 and above are Filterbuy's recommendations.
Why Flint's AQI Can Lag or Look Wrong
Most maps show a NowCast value, a weighted average of recent hours rather than a live snapshot. The Filterbuy team ran EPA's NowCast formula against a modeled smoke event. The reading trailed the real air by 42 AQI points as the plume arrived, then stayed 79 points too high as it cleared. Filterbuy's NowCast AQI guide shows the full run.
David Clark, the licensed HVAC technician who reviews Filterbuy's technical content, puts it this way: "The number and your nose are answering two different questions. NowCast is telling you what the last few hours averaged out to. Your nose is telling you what is coming through the wall right now."
Because the nearby Otisville monitor measures only ozone and Flint's station skips ozone from November through February, any winter AQI for Flint is essentially a PM2.5 reading.
Is the Air Quality Bad in Flint Today?
Whether Flint's air is bad today depends on the live map. At orange, sensitive groups should ease off; at red or worse, everyone should. If you have asthma, COPD, or a heart condition, follow your doctor's plan and official guidance first.
Filterbuy's action line is AQI 100, the top of the Moderate range. When the map reaches 100, take four steps:
1. Switch to a MERV 13 filter in your HVAC system. It treats the whole house.
2. Set the thermostat fan to On. Auto filters only while the system heats or cools.
3. Run a portable HEPA air cleaner in each occupied room, bedrooms first.
4. Close the house up. Keep windows and doors shut, and skip candles, frying, smoking, and vacuuming while smoke is in.
EPA recommends a filter rated MERV 13 or higher in the central system during smoke events.
Where to Find Flint's Air Quality Forecast and Alerts
EGLE issues an Air Quality Advisory when monitors are expected to reach orange and an Air Quality Alert at red or higher. Get free alerts at MiAir.EnviroFlash.info or check forecasts on AirNow.gov.
What's Actually in Flint's Air?
Most of Flint's air pollution comes down to two pollutants, ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and they peak at different times.
Ozone is mostly a summer problem, forming when sunlight cooks exhaust on hot, still afternoons.
PM2.5 can spike in any season. In summer, the usual cause is wildfire smoke. In winter, it is thermal inversions, when a layer of cold air near the ground traps soot from traffic and wood smoke.
Check the pollutant on the map, then confirm it with these clues:
| Clue | Ozone day | Wildfire smoke day |
|---|---|---|
| Pollutant on the map | Ozone (O3) | PM2.5 |
| Season | March–October | Mostly late May–August |
| Time of day | Builds through the afternoon | Any hour; can settle overnight |
| What you notice | Often clear, sunny, and still | Haze or a smoky smell |
| What helps indoors | Close windows; ozone breaks down inside | The four steps above |
| Best time outside | Early morning | After the plume clears |
Heavy smoke can also push ozone up, so check both readings on the map.
Local sources add to the mix, including truck traffic where Interstates 69, 75, and 475 meet and the wood-burning Genesee Power Station on North Dort Highway. A 2019 state inspection found the plant in compliance with its permit. In 2017, the EPA concluded that Michigan treated Black residents unfairly in hearings for its early-1990s permit, though its modeling found no health risk above EPA benchmarks. Genesee County's grades are on the American Lung Association's State of the Air report card.
When Canadian Wildfire Smoke Reaches Flint
Flint Beat reported that Flint's PM2.5 AQI hit 219 on June 27, 2023, in the Very Unhealthy range. Smoke returned in 2025 and again in July 2026, when EGLE issued statewide alerts from July 15 to 20 and ABC12 in Flint warned of hazardous-to-unhealthy air. When smoke arrives, check AirNow and EGLE alerts first, then follow the four steps above. Track plumes on Filterbuy's Michigan wildfire and smoke map.
What If Your Flint Home Has No Central Air?
No ducts means no filter to upgrade, so in homes with window units or radiators, portable HEPA air cleaners are your primary defense. EPA's cleaner air room guidance says to pick a unit whose smoke CADR (clean air delivery rate) is at least two-thirds of the room's square footage, so a 300 sq ft bedroom needs a smoke CADR of about 200. Skip ionizers and ozone generators; EPA advises against air cleaners that produce ozone.
A DIY box-fan cleaner is a reasonable stopgap, not a replacement for a certified unit. EPA research found the design reduces smoke indoors when it's built with a MERV 13 filter and a certified box fan made in 2012 or later. Don't leave it running unattended. Filterbuy makes MERV 13 filters in the 20x20x1 size most box fans take.
Which Air Filter Flint's AQI Level Calls For
Ozone breaks down indoors. PM2.5 lingers, so that's where your filter does the work.
| Flint condition | Recommended filter | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Green days, no pets or allergies | MERV 8 | Catches everyday dust, pollen, and lint. |
| Yellow days, pets, or allergies | MERV 11 | Adds finer particles such as pet dander and mold spores. |
| AQI 100 and above, or any smoke | MERV 13 | Filterbuy's tier for smoke and high-AQI days. |
Tiers are Filterbuy's recommendations. Order the size printed on your current filter.
EPA notes that most furnaces and HVAC systems can use MERV 13 without equipment problems, as long as the filter is replaced often. Confirm the size your system takes, the same quick fit check you'd do for any filter.
The mistake Filterbuy sees most often is the size, not the rating. Air that slips around an undersized filter is unfiltered, so order the size printed on your current one.
Filterbuy makes its filters in the USA in more than 600 sizes, including MERV 8 air filters, MERV 11 air filters, and MERV 13 air filters.
How Filterbuy Reads Flint's Air
Filterbuy has built pleated filters in the USA for more than a decade, so we read Flint's AQI from the indoor side. Two lessons stand out:
1. Most people prepare too late. Michigan households tend to reach us right after a smoke event, often once the plume has already passed.
2. Smoke shortens filter life. Filterbuy's standard interval for a 1-inch filter is 90 days, but smoke loads a filter much faster. Check it during every smoke event and replace it once it looks dark brown or black, which can be well before 90 days, as EPA advises. Keep four filters per return grille on hand: one installed and three spares.
Michelle Wan, Filterbuy's brand manager and air quality writer, sums up how we choose: "The best filter is the highest rating your system can move air through, in the deepest size your cabinet will take, changed on time."
Supporting Statistics
1. Smoke alerts are now routine in Michigan.
EGLE issued 31 Air Quality Alerts in 2023, then 27 advisory days and 4 alert days by mid-August 2025.
Source: Michigan EGLE
2. Smoke days send more people to the ER.
Asthma ER visits ran 17% above expected across 19 smoke days in 2023.
June 27–29 brought 172 extra asthma visits, the same stretch when Flint's AQI hit 219.
3. The right filter can cut indoor PM2.5 by about half.
With a MERV 13 or higher filter and the fan set to "On," indoor PM2.5 may drop about 50%.
With a low-efficiency filter and the fan on, the drop is closer to 24%.
Source: U.S. EPA
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the air quality in Flint today?
Flint's air quality today appears on Filterbuy's live AQI map at the top of this page, which updates hourly from EGLE and AirNow data. Green or yellow is fine for most people; orange or higher means sensitive groups should limit hard outdoor activity.
What MERV rating do I need for wildfire smoke in Flint?
MERV 13. EPA recommends a filter rated MERV 13 or higher during smoke events. Filterbuy's line for switching is AQI 100, along with setting the fan to On and running a portable HEPA cleaner in each occupied room.
Where does Flint's air quality data come from?
Flint's official AQI comes from EGLE's monitor at Crossroads Village in Genesee Township, which reports to MiAir and AirNow.
What is Flint's PM2.5 level today?
The live map shows Flint's current PM2.5 reading next to the headline AQI. Under the EPA's 2024 scale, 9.0 µg/m³ or less counts as Good, and 35.5 µg/m³ or more reaches the orange Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range.
Is Flint's air quality connected to the Flint water crisis?
No. The water crisis involved lead in drinking water, not outdoor air. Flint's day-to-day AQI is driven by ozone and PM2.5.
Glossary
Air Quality Index (AQI): The EPA's 0–500 scale that converts pollutant levels into six color-coded health categories.
PM2.5: Fine particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or smaller, small enough to reach deep into the lungs.
MERV: Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, the 1–16 rating for how well an HVAC filter captures particles.
HEPA: High-efficiency particulate air filtration, capturing at least 99.97% of 0.3-micron particles. It belongs in portable air cleaners, not furnace slots.