EPA air quality + NOAA smoke
Texas air quality by county
Bad-air days, typical county
3.2
per year, AQI over 100 (US: 2.4)
Smoke days, average county
17
per year, medium or heavy plume (US: 24)
Mold pros licensed?
Yes
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
Wildfire smoke days by year
Days with a medium or heavy smoke plume overhead, averaged across Texas's 254 counties. Smoke days come from NOAA satellite analysts, who draw where smoke plumes are overhead each day. A plume overhead does not always reach the ground, so these days measure exposure risk, not what you breathed. We count only medium and heavy plumes.
Every monitored Texas county
Sorted by bad-air days. EPA monitors 44 of 254 counties; the rest have smoke data only.
| County | Good days | Bad days / yr | Main pollutant | Worst AQI | Smoke days / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | 14% | 37 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 205 (2023) | 20 |
| El Paso | 20.8% | 36.8 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 2122 (2025) | 5 |
| Tarrant | 34.9% | 24.6 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 209 (2021) | 18 |
| Denton | 57.6% | 24 | ozone | 187 (2022) | 21 |
| Dallas | 42.3% | 16.8 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 304 (2025) | 20 |
| Cameron | 39.5% | 15.6 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 171 (2024) | 33 |
| Bexar | 39.7% | 14 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 309 (2023) | 14 |
| Collin | 77.9% | 14 | ozone | 161 (2024) | 21 |
| Brazoria | 84.4% | 10.2 | ozone | 164 (2024) | 21 |
| Galveston | 62.5% | 9.4 | ozone | 179 (2025) | 22 |
| Montgomery | 43.2% | 9.4 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 166 (2024) | 19 |
| Johnson | 81.7% | 7.8 | ozone | 156 (2022) | 18 |
| Parker | 84.1% | 7.4 | ozone | 156 (2024) | 19 |
| Hidalgo | 48.7% | 6.6 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 157 (2024) | 26 |
| Hood | 83.6% | 6.6 | ozone | 154 (2024) | 18 |
| Travis | 45% | 6.4 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 141 (2024) | 15 |
| Nueces | 51% | 6 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 153 (2024) | 23 |
| Jefferson | 48.5% | 5.6 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 160 (2025) | 23 |
| Webb | 56.6% | 5.4 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 133 (2023) | 16 |
| Kaufman | 66.4% | 4.4 | ozone | 159 (2023) | 21 |
| Bell | 64.6% | 4.2 | ozone | 140 (2025) | 16 |
| McLennan | 52.3% | 3.2 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 142 (2025) | 18 |
| Harrison | 58.7% | 2.6 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 263 (2024) | 22 |
| Kleberg | 56.4% | 2.2 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 133 (2022) | 25 |
| Smith | 86% | 2.2 | ozone | 122 (2022) | 21 |
| Atascosa | 63.5% | 2 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 116 (2024) | 14 |
| Navarro | 62.8% | 2 | ozone | 129 (2024) | 18 |
| Randall | 78.3% | 2 | ozone | 122 (2022) | 17 |
| Gregg | 88.3% | 1.2 | ozone | 151 (2023) | 22 |
| Orange | 64.6% | 1.2 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 119 (2024) | 22 |
| Brewster | 74.8% | 1 | ozone | 164 (2025) | 6 |
| Hunt | 91.1% | 1 | ozone | 133 (2024) | 22 |
| Lubbock | 88.1% | 1 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 167 (2025) | 12 |
| Ellis | 83.7% | 0.8 | ozone | 112 (2023) | 19 |
| Potter | 87.8% | 0.8 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 138 (2024) | 19 |
| Bowie | 47.1% | 0.6 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 107 (2023) | 24 |
| Rockwall | 93.9% | 0.5 | ozone | 126 (2024) | 21 |
| Ector | 76.4% | 0.4 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 183 (2025) | 8 |
| Maverick | 68.9% | 0.4 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 107 (2022) | 13 |
| Victoria | 93.3% | 0.4 | ozone | 105 (2024) | 19 |
| Brazos | 68.7% | 0.2 | fine particles (PM2.5) | 102 (2024) | 17 |
| Polk | 95.3% | 0.2 | ozone | 105 (2025) | 20 |
| Karnes | 100% | 0 | nitrogen dioxide | 34 (2022) | 15 |
| Wilson | 100% | 0 | nitrogen dioxide | 44 (2022) | 14 |
Most smoke days in Texas: Cameron (33 days), Willacy (31 days), Kenedy (27 days), Hidalgo (26 days), Kleberg (25 days).
EPA's Air Quality Index runs from 0 to 500. Up to 50 is good and 51-100 is moderate. Above 100 the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups (children, older adults, and people with asthma or heart or lung disease), and above 150 it is unhealthy for everyone. We count a county's bad days as days above 100, averaged over 2021-2025.
Mold and indoor air in Texas
In Texas, mold assessors and remediators who work for pay must hold a TDLR license (remediation workers must be registered); a homeowner may clean small areas under 25 contiguous square feet or do their own work, and you can look up a license on the TDLR mold search page. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, license lookup.
No agency measures indoor air city by city, so nobody can tell you your home's numbers except a monitor in your home. What research does show: Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors (EPA's National Human Activity Pattern Survey, 2001), EPA studies in the 1980s often found indoor levels of some chemical vapors two to five times outdoor levels, and during wildfire smoke the particles get inside unless windows stay shut and a filter runs.
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Indoor air quality monitor
Start by measuring: particles, CO2 and humidity in your own rooms.
Shows particles (PM2.5), CO2, humidity and chemical vapors (VOCs) room by room, so you know when to ventilate or run a purifier. Consumer monitors are indicators, not lab instruments.
Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor
BudgetGovee H5106 air quality monitor (PM2.5)
BudgetHEPA air purifier
For allergies, pets, or the occasional smoke day.
A true HEPA purifier sized to the room removes fine particles such as smoke, dust and pollen. Check the CADR rating and skip anything that makes ozone.
Levoit Core 300 (bedroom-size HEPA)
BudgetWinix 5520 (large-room HEPA)
Mid-rangeCO2 monitor
Stuffy bedroom or home office? CO2 tells you when to open a window.
CO2 is the best quick check on whether a room gets enough fresh air. Look for an NDIR sensor; cheap 'eCO2' sensors estimate it from VOCs instead of measuring it.
Aranet4 Home CO2 monitor (NDIR)
PremiumTemtop portable CO2 monitor
BudgetMold test kit
Musty smell or a past leak: a cheap first look before calling a pro.
A cheap first look. Settle-plate kits grow whatever spores are in the air, so they almost always show something; a visible patch or musty smell matters more than the plate.
Mold Armor DIY mold test kit
Budget12-test home mold test kit (air, HVAC, surfaces)
BudgetTexas cities: water, radon and air
- HoustonHarris County
- San AntonioBexar County
- DallasDallas County
- Fort WorthTarrant County
- AustinTravis County
- El PasoEl Paso County
- ArlingtonTarrant County
- Corpus ChristiNueces County
- PlanoCollin County
- LubbockLubbock County
- LaredoWebb County
- IrvingDallas County
- GarlandDallas County
- FriscoCollin County
- McKinneyCollin County
- Grand PrairieDallas County
- AmarilloPotter County
- BrownsvilleCameron County
- DentonDenton County
- KilleenBell County
- MesquiteDallas County
- PasadenaHarris County
- McAllenHidalgo County
- WacoMcLennan County
- MidlandMidland County
Questions
How often is there wildfire smoke in Texas?+
NOAA satellites placed a medium or heavy smoke plume over the average Texas county on about 17 days a year from 2021-2025, below the typical US county. The worst year was 2023 (27 days on average). Smoke overhead does not always reach the ground.
Do mold inspectors need a license in Texas?+
In Texas, mold assessors and remediators who work for pay must hold a TDLR license (remediation workers must be registered); a homeowner may clean small areas under 25 contiguous square feet or do their own work, and you can look up a license on the TDLR mold search page.
Is indoor air worse than outdoor air?+
No agency measures indoor air city by city, so nobody can tell you your home's numbers except a monitor in your home. What research does show: Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors (EPA's National Human Activity Pattern Survey, 2001), EPA studies in the 1980s often found indoor levels of some chemical vapors two to five times outdoor levels, and during wildfire smoke the particles get inside unless windows stay shut and a filter runs.
Sources: EPA AirData annual AQI by county, 2021-2025; NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke polygons, 2021-2025; Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), Mold Assessors and Remediators program. Methodology.