Bad Air Days in Denton County, Texas: 17 a Year
17 bad air days a year
Among the worst tenth of monitored US counties. Ranked 40 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (2% particle days).
The bad-air season here
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in August and June and September and May and July. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
Is a purifier worth it here?
- Ozone drives many bad days here. Purifiers and filters do not remove ozone, so do not buy one for that. Ozone peaks on hot afternoons: exercise outside in the morning.
- Sign up for EnviroFlash ozone alerts for this area during the worst months.
The worst days on file
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 38 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 17. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2023, with 32 bad days on 365 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-06-30 | 187 | Ozone |
| 2024-08-07 | 187 | Ozone |
| 2021-06-16 | 179 | Ozone |
| 2025-09-11 | 179 | Ozone |
| 2023-08-17 | 177 | Ozone |
The air on a normal day
Across 3,653 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Denton County rated Good on 62% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 33%. The median day sat at AQI 45; one day in ten went above 77.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- ozone64%2,344 days
- fine particles (PM2.5)35%1,283 days
- nitrogen dioxide1%26 days
Year by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 211 | 135 | 19 | 2 | 47 | 179 |
| 2024 | 366 | 210 | 128 | 28 | 3 | 47 | 187 |
| 2023 | 365 | 200 | 133 | 32 | 5 | 49 | 177 |
| 2022 | 365 | 209 | 136 | 20 | 1 | 47 | 187 |
| 2021 | 365 | 222 | 122 | 21 | 3 | 45 | 179 |
| 2020 | 366 | 245 | 113 | 8 | 0 | 44 | 142 |
| 2019 | 365 | 239 | 114 | 12 | 0 | 44 | 133 |
| 2018 | 365 | 254 | 97 | 14 | 1 | 42 | 151 |
| 2017 | 365 | 238 | 118 | 9 | 0 | 46 | 133 |
| 2016 | 366 | 248 | 107 | 11 | 0 | 44 | 143 |
| 2015 | 365 | 212 | 132 | 21 | 4 | 46 | 172 |
| 2014 | 365 | 198 | 154 | 13 | 1 | 48 | 156 |
| 2013 | 365 | 194 | 139 | 32 | 2 | 49 | 161 |
| 2012 | 366 | 181 | 153 | 32 | 3 | 51 | 174 |
| 2011 | 365 | 176 | 142 | 47 | 14 | 52 | 192 |
| 2010 | 365 | 187 | 166 | 12 | 0 | 49 | 143 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Elsewhere in Texas
- Harris County29/yr
- El Paso County26/yr
- Tarrant County19/yr
- Dallas County12/yr
- Collin County11/yr
- Bexar County11/yr
- Cameron County9/yr
- Montgomery County8/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, and on why a purifier does not touch ozone in smoke vs ozone.