Bad Air Days in Carson City, Nevada: 7 a Year
7 bad air days a year
More bad air days than three quarters of monitored counties. Ranked 148 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (90% particle days).
Which months to watch
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in August and September and July. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
Is a purifier worth it here?
- Particles (wildfire smoke, dust) cause enough bad days here to matter. A HEPA purifier sized to your bedroom removes them; run it with windows shut on bad days.
- Upgrade the furnace or AC filter to MERV 13 so the whole house is filtered, not just one room.
The record for Carson City
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 2 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 7. It has got worse. The worst recent year was 2021, with 28 bad days on 365 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-08-23 | 304 | PM2.5 |
| 2021-08-21 | 289 | PM2.5 |
| 2021-08-22 | 288 | PM2.5 |
| 2021-08-24 | 241 | PM2.5 |
| 2021-08-25 | 237 | PM2.5 |
An ordinary day in Carson City
Across 3,648 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Carson City rated Good on 75% of them, close to the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 23%. The median day sat at AQI 44; one day in ten went above 63.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- ozone76%2,776 days
- fine particles (PM2.5)24%872 days
Carson City by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 363 | 313 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 80 |
| 2024 | 366 | 270 | 95 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 105 |
| 2023 | 363 | 236 | 126 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 105 |
| 2022 | 364 | 290 | 65 | 9 | 4 | 44 | 227 |
| 2021 | 365 | 273 | 64 | 28 | 19 | 42 | 304 |
| 2020 | 366 | 284 | 62 | 20 | 8 | 42 | 210 |
| 2019 | 365 | 296 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 97 |
| 2018 | 365 | 243 | 114 | 8 | 3 | 46 | 163 |
| 2017 | 365 | 253 | 110 | 2 | 1 | 45 | 166 |
| 2016 | 366 | 282 | 84 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 93 |
| 2015 | 365 | 268 | 96 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 144 |
| 2014 | 365 | 246 | 115 | 4 | 1 | 46 | 166 |
| 2013 | 275 | 157 | 103 | 15 | 10 | 48 | 245 |
| 2012 | 207 | 122 | 78 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 112 |
| 2011 | 195 | 152 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 97 |
| 2010 | 190 | 149 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 90 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Nevada compared
- Clark County29/yr
- Washoe County10/yr
- Douglas County7/yr
- Nye County3/yr
- Lyon County3/yr
- Elko County3/yr
- Churchill County2/yr
- White Pine County2/yr
How this is counted
A bad air day is a day the county's daily AQI from EPA AirData went above 100, the level where EPA tells children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease to cut back outdoors. Monitors do not run every day, so yearly counts are scaled to 365 days. This is the record, not today's air: for that, check AirNow. More on the method in how the county numbers are made, on the AQI 100 line in what counts as a bad air day.