Mono, California Air Quality Today

Mono, California earns a D — air quality falls below the U.S. average, with a 5-year median AQI of 33. Residents with asthma, COPD, heart disease, or young children should watch daily AQI forecasts and limit outdoor exertion when alerts go out.

Mono, California's 5-year median AQI of 33 is 8 points below the national average of 41 — meaningfully cleaner than the typical U.S. metro tracked here. Within California, Mono, California runs cleaner than the state average of 49 — a positive signal that local conditions (terrain, wind patterns, emission sources) are working in residents' favor.

For context within California: Humboldt, California currently holds the state's cleanest grade (A, AQI 28), while Inyo, California sits at the bottom (F, AQI 57).

Air quality in Mono, California has been getting worse over the past decade, with median AQI climbing by roughly 1.9 points per year. That bucks the national trend of broad improvement, and most often reflects either growing wildfire smoke exposure (particularly across the West) or rising local emissions from population and freight growth.

In 2014, Mono, California posted a median AQI of 16. By 2023 that figure was 24 — a rise of 8 AQI points dirtier across 10 years of EPA records.

Across the past five years, this area has logged 140 days where AQI rose into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or worse — about 28 days per year, or roughly one every five to seven days. That is well above the national norm and explains the D grade.

Treat daily AQI forecasts as essential input. On flagged days, sensitive groups (asthma, COPD, heart disease, pregnancy, young children, older adults) should limit outdoor exertion and keep windows closed. A HEPA air cleaner sized to a bedroom or family room can cut indoor PM2.5 by 80%+ during smoke or pollution events. Because PM2.5 penetrates deep into the lungs and bloodstream, an N95 or KN95 mask provides meaningful protection on smoky or high-particulate days — surgical masks do not.