Bad Air Days in Douglas County, Nevada: 7 a Year

7 bad air days a year

More bad air days than three quarters of monitored counties. Ranked 131 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

What makes them bad: mostly particles: smoke and dust (100% particle days).

Which months to watch

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 worst days on file

In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 3 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 7. It has got worse. The worst recent year was 2021, with 33 bad days on 365 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2021-08-26	279	PM2.5
2020-09-16	274	PM2.5
2020-09-17	272	PM2.5
2021-08-22	270	PM2.5
2021-08-30	256	PM2.5

An ordinary day in Douglas

Across 3,538 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Douglas County rated Good on 83% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 15%. The median day sat at AQI 24; one day in ten went above 60.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)100%3,538 days

Douglas County by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	358	326	32	0	0	22	63
2024	342	308	34	0	0	22	76
2023	359	296	63	0	0	28	73
2022	356	295	55	6	5	20	195
2021	365	279	53	33	26	24	279
2020	366	286	63	17	11	22	274
2019	356	318	38	0	0	17	66
2018	362	291	61	10	4	21	229
2017	338	273	61	4	1	26	212
2016	336	268	67	1	0	34	105
2015	314	209	98	7	2	41	178
2014	364	255	105	4	0	37	135
2013	277	170	87	20	15	43	310
2012	115	100	15	0	0	14	77
2011	341	337	4	0	0	10	66
2010	339	339	0	0	0	8	36

*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.

Nevada compared

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.