Bad Air Days in Elko County, Nevada: 3 a Year
3 bad air days a year
About the middle of monitored US counties. Ranked 427 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: a mix of particles and ozone (44% 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 July. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.
What actually helps here
- Bad air days are rare here. A standard furnace filter is enough; no purifier needed for outdoor air.
- On the odd bad day, check AirNow and keep windows shut.
The worst days on file
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged under 1 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, 3. It has got worse. The worst recent year was 2021, with 10 bad days on 365 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-08-22 | 169 | Ozone |
| 2017-03-04 | 164 | PM10 |
| 2020-08-20 | 161 | Ozone |
| 2025-02-03 | 160 | PM2.5 |
| 2020-08-21 | 156 | Ozone |
An ordinary day in Elko
Across 3,603 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Elko County rated Good on 88% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 11%. The median day sat at AQI 28; one day in ten went above 51.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- coarse dust (PM10)65%2,343 days
- ozone30%1,094 days
- fine particles (PM2.5)5%166 days
Every recent year on file
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 364 | 314 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 160 |
| 2024 | 365 | 318 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 113 |
| 2023 | 364 | 318 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 74 |
| 2022 | 365 | 321 | 42 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 149 |
| 2021 | 365 | 282 | 73 | 10 | 1 | 42 | 156 |
| 2020 | 363 | 304 | 55 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 169 |
| 2019 | 365 | 356 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 77 |
| 2018 | 346 | 296 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 126 |
| 2017 | 361 | 330 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 164 |
| 2016 | 345 | 340 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 134 |
| 2015 | 359 | 314 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 97 |
| 2014 | 357 | 327 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 123 |
| 2013 | 361 | 351 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 83 |
| 2012 | 359 | 328 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 90 |
| 2011 | 326 | 313 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 85 |
| 2010 | 300 | 294 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 139 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
Nearby counties on file
- Clark County29/yr
- Washoe County10/yr
- Douglas County7/yr
- Carson City7/yr
- Nye County3/yr
- Lyon 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, and on why a purifier does not touch ozone in smoke vs ozone.