Bad Air Days in Eddy County, New Mexico: 19 a Year
19 bad air days a year
Among the worst tenth of monitored US counties. Ranked 32 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (1% particle days).
When the bad days come in Eddy
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in July and August and June and May. 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.
Better or worse than it was
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 5 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 19. It has got worse. The worst recent year was 2024, with 36 bad days on 366 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-06-04 | 185 | Ozone |
| 2024-07-25 | 179 | Ozone |
| 2018-06-05 | 177 | Ozone |
| 2018-08-02 | 174 | Ozone |
| 2019-06-08 | 174 | Ozone |
The air on a normal day
Across 3,647 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Eddy County rated Good on 61% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 34%. The median day sat at AQI 47; one day in ten went above 87.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- ozone98%3,563 days
- fine particles (PM2.5)2%68 days
Year by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 196 | 144 | 25 | 1 | 49 | 168 |
| 2024 | 366 | 188 | 142 | 36 | 3 | 49 | 179 |
| 2023 | 365 | 195 | 151 | 19 | 0 | 49 | 143 |
| 2022 | 365 | 207 | 130 | 28 | 1 | 48 | 151 |
| 2021 | 365 | 219 | 120 | 26 | 1 | 47 | 166 |
| 2020 | 364 | 244 | 109 | 11 | 0 | 46 | 115 |
| 2019 | 365 | 212 | 134 | 19 | 2 | 47 | 174 |
| 2018 | 365 | 210 | 135 | 20 | 3 | 48 | 185 |
| 2017 | 365 | 245 | 110 | 10 | 0 | 45 | 140 |
| 2016 | 362 | 292 | 70 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 100 |
| 2015 | 356 | 262 | 94 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 97 |
| 2014 | 363 | 263 | 96 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 115 |
| 2013 | 356 | 242 | 112 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 122 |
| 2012 | 349 | 225 | 114 | 10 | 1 | 45 | 156 |
| 2011 | 365 | 212 | 146 | 7 | 0 | 47 | 119 |
| 2010 | 365 | 275 | 88 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 101 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
New Mexico compared
- Dona Ana County28/yr
- Bernalillo County15/yr
- San Juan County6/yr
- Luna County5/yr
- Lea County4/yr
- Sandoval County2/yr
- Valencia County1/yr
- Rio Arriba County1/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.