Bad Air Days in Santa Fe County, New Mexico: under 1 a Year
under 1 bad air day a year
Fewer bad air days than most monitored US counties. Ranked 728 of 996 monitored counties, where 1 is worst.
What makes them bad: mostly ozone: summer smog (13% 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 May and August and June 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 record for Santa Fe
In 2000 to 2009 this county averaged 0 bad days a year; in 2016 to 2025, under 1. Not much has changed. The worst recent year was 2018, with 3 bad days on 365 monitored days.
| Date | AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-05-28 | 122 | Ozone |
| 2021-08-08 | 113 | PM2.5 |
| 2018-05-19 | 112 | Ozone |
| 2021-06-09 | 112 | Ozone |
| 2018-05-27 | 101 | Ozone |
The air on a normal day
Across 3,643 monitored days from 2016 to 2025, the air in Santa Fe County rated Good on 77% of them, more often than the 72% typical of monitored counties, and Moderate on 23%. The median day sat at AQI 44; one day in ten went above 63.
The pollutant setting the AQI on an ordinary day here:
- ozone93%3,395 days
- fine particles (PM2.5)7%248 days
Every recent year on file
| Year | Days monitored | Good | Moderate | Over 100 | Over 150 | Median AQI | Highest AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 365 | 286 | 79 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 93 |
| 2024 | 363 | 259 | 103 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 101 |
| 2023 | 362 | 284 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 84 |
| 2022 | 365 | 284 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 98 |
| 2021 | 364 | 275 | 87 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 113 |
| 2020 | 366 | 287 | 78 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 101 |
| 2019 | 362 | 273 | 88 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 101 |
| 2018 | 365 | 276 | 86 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 122 |
| 2017 | 365 | 282 | 83 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 100 |
| 2016 | 366 | 300 | 66 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 90 |
| 2015 | 365 | 308 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 80 |
| 2014 | 365 | 305 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 87 |
| 2013 | 365 | 264 | 101 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 100 |
| 2012 | 366 | 247 | 118 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 108 |
| 2011 | 365 | 289 | 75 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 109 |
| 2010 | 365 | 304 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 101 |
*2025 may be a partial year in EPA's file.
New Mexico compared
- Dona Ana County28/yr
- Eddy County19/yr
- Bernalillo County15/yr
- San Juan County6/yr
- Luna County5/yr
- Lea County4/yr
- Sandoval County2/yr
- Valencia 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.