Bad Air Days in El Paso County, Texas: 26 a Year
26 bad air days a year
Among the worst tenth of monitored US counties. Ranked 22 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: a mix of particles and ozone (53% particle days).
When the bad days come in El Paso
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Most bad days here fall in July and August and June. 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.
- 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 record for El Paso
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 41 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 26. The air has improved. The worst recent year was 2024, with 63 bad days on 366 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-03-18 | 2122 | PM10 |
| 2025-04-01 | 1342 | PM10 |
| 2025-04-27 | 1139 | PM10 |
| 2025-03-03 | 1059 | PM10 |
| 2025-04-18 | 762 | PM10 |
Most days, not the worst ones
Across 3,653 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in El Paso County rated Good on 25% of them, less often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 68%. The median day sat at AQI 60; one day in ten went above 92.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- fine particles (PM2.5)51%1,847 days
- ozone37%1,334 days
- coarse dust (PM10)11%405 days
- nitrogen dioxide2%67 days
El Paso County by year
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 66 | 236 | 63 | 30 | 70 | 2122 |
| 2024 | 366 | 81 | 222 | 63 | 12 | 67 | 431 |
| 2023 | 365 | 69 | 277 | 19 | 1 | 64 | 155 |
| 2022 | 365 | 72 | 273 | 20 | 1 | 59 | 163 |
| 2021 | 365 | 91 | 255 | 19 | 0 | 59 | 150 |
| 2020 | 366 | 95 | 252 | 19 | 2 | 59 | 192 |
| 2019 | 365 | 100 | 252 | 13 | 2 | 57 | 159 |
| 2018 | 365 | 91 | 257 | 17 | 2 | 59 | 164 |
| 2017 | 365 | 120 | 222 | 23 | 2 | 56 | 162 |
| 2016 | 366 | 123 | 237 | 6 | 0 | 55 | 147 |
| 2015 | 365 | 128 | 230 | 7 | 0 | 54 | 136 |
| 2014 | 365 | 110 | 246 | 9 | 1 | 55 | 160 |
| 2013 | 365 | 97 | 254 | 14 | 3 | 58 | 168 |
| 2012 | 366 | 67 | 275 | 24 | 5 | 62 | 659 |
| 2011 | 365 | 46 | 299 | 20 | 3 | 64 | 186 |
| 2010 | 365 | 95 | 254 | 16 | 3 | 58 | 191 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Texas compared
- Harris County29/yr
- Tarrant County19/yr
- Denton County17/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.