Bad Air Days in Lubbock County, Texas: under 1 a Year

under 1 bad air day a year

Fewer bad air days than most monitored US counties. Ranked 732 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.

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

When the bad days come in Lubbock

Most bad days here fall in March and April and June and February. Averaged over 2016 to 2025.

Is a purifier worth it 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.

Better or worse than it was

The worst recent year was 2025, with 2 bad days on 338 monitored days.

Date	AQI	Main pollutant
2025-03-18	167	PM2.5
2023-02-26	161	PM2.5
2025-03-14	148	PM2.5
2022-04-22	138	PM2.5
2018-06-24	134	PM2.5

Most days, not the worst ones

Across 3,198 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Lubbock County rated Good on 87% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 13%. The median day sat at AQI 28; one day in ten went above 52.

The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:

fine particles (PM2.5)100%3,198 days

Lubbock County by year

Year	Days monitored	Good	Moderate	Over 100	Over 150	Median AQI	Highest AQI
2025*	338	314	22	2	1	24	167
2024	358	330	28	0	0	23	91
2023	364	323	40	1	1	25	161
2022	347	300	45	2	0	26	138
2021	347	278	69	0	0	31	85
2020	352	311	41	0	0	26	83
2019	330	281	48	1	0	34	103
2018	303	239	63	1	0	33	134
2017	340	288	52	0	0	33	93
2016	119	115	4	0	0	28	59
2014	265	189	76	0	0	38	100
2013	334	257	76	1	1	35	170
2012	278	166	110	2	0	47	113
2011	320	203	114	3	0	42	136
2010	365	303	62	0	0	35	75

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

Elsewhere in Texas

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.