What Is the Air Quality in BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico?
BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico has an Air Quality Grade of F (very poor) with a 5-year median AQI of 81. The dominant pollutant is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), and air quality has been worsening over the past decade.
BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico Air Quality Snapshot
| Air Quality Grade | F16/100 |
| 5-Year Median AQI | 81 (Moderate) |
| Most Recent Median AQI (2022) | 66 (Moderate) |
| Dominant Pollutant | Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) |
| 10-Year Trend | Worsening (+1.55 AQI/yr) |
| Unhealthy Days (last 5 yr) | 175 |
| National Rank (cleanest = #1) | #1017 of 1,020 (100th most polluted percentile) |
| Country Of Mexico Rank | #2 of 2 |
What Does the F Grade Mean?
BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico earns an F — among the most polluted areas tracked by EPA monitoring, with a 5-year median AQI of 81. The city sees a high count of unhealthy air days, and residents with respiratory or cardiovascular conditions should treat AQI forecasts as a serious daily input.
BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico's 5-year median AQI of 81 is 40 points above the national average of 41 — meaningfully more polluted than the typical U.S. metro tracked here. Within Country Of Mexico, BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico runs more polluted than the state average of 62 — local sources or geography are concentrating pollution above the state's typical reading.
What's in BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico's Air?
The dominant pollutant in BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5). Fine particulate matter — particles less than 2.5 micrometers across — comes mostly from combustion: vehicle exhaust, wildfire smoke, residential wood burning, and industrial emissions. Because these particles are small enough to enter the bloodstream, PM2.5 is the pollutant most strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and premature death.
Days by Dominant Pollutant (2022)
| Pollutant | Days as Dominant | Share of Year |
|---|---|---|
| Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) | 273 | 100% |
Is the Air Getting Better or Worse?
Air quality in BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico has been getting worse over the past decade, with median AQI climbing by roughly 1.6 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, BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico posted a median AQI of 65. By 2022 that figure was 66 — a rise of 1 AQI points dirtier across 9 years of EPA records.
Year-by-Year AQI in BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico
| Year | Median AQI | Good Days | Unhealthy Days | Dominant Pollutant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 65 | 11 | 13 | PM10 |
| 2015 | 73 | 8 | 14 | PM10 |
| 2016 | 67 | 22 | 54 | PM2.5 |
| 2017 | 67 | 44 | 71 | PM2.5 |
| 2018 | 76 | 11 | 39 | PM2.5 |
| 2019 | 72 | 5 | 8 | PM10 |
| 2020 | 115 | 0 | 55 | PM2.5 |
| 2021 | 69 | 14 | 66 | PM2.5 |
| 2022 | 66 | 29 | 46 | PM2.5 |
Health Context for BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico
Across the past five years, this area has logged 175 days where AQI rose into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or worse — about 35 days per year, or roughly one every five to seven days. That is well above the national norm and explains the F 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.
How This Grade Is Calculated
The AirHistory Air Quality Grade combines four signals: the 5-year median AQI (40% of the score), the 10-year trend direction (30%), the count of unhealthy days per year (20%), and the dominant pollutant type (10%). All four come directly from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), which aggregates readings from federally certified monitors. Read the full methodology.
BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE, Country Of Mexico has an Air Quality Grade of F (very poor) with a 5-year median AQI of 81. The dominant pollutant is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), and air quality has been worsening over the past decade.
This answer pulls from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), the authoritative federal source for U.S. air quality and pollution monitoring. The headline number above is the direct answer; what follows is the additional context most readers need to use the answer for a real decision rather than just a fact lookup.
A practical caveat: the headline answer above reflects the most recent the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) vintage; underlying data is often revised for months after first publication, and the right reference for any specific decision is whichever vintage is current at the time of the decision. The as-of date is stamped on every page.
Source: EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data, 2026.