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AirHistory

What Is the Air Quality in Montezuma, Colorado?

Montezuma, Colorado has an Air Quality Grade of C (fair) with a 5-year median AQI of 44. The dominant pollutant is Ground-Level Ozone, and air quality has been stable over the past decade.

Montezuma, Colorado Air Quality Snapshot

Air Quality GradeC64/100
5-Year Median AQI44 (Good)
Most Recent Median AQI (2023)44 (Good)
Dominant PollutantGround-Level Ozone
10-Year TrendStable (-0.04 AQI/yr)
Unhealthy Days (last 5 yr)4
National Rank (cleanest = #1)#734 of 1,020 (72th most polluted percentile)
Colorado Rank#12 of 32

What Does the C Grade Mean?

Montezuma, Colorado earns a C — air quality is fair, but not great. With a 5-year median AQI of 44, the city sees a meaningful number of "Moderate" days each year, when the EPA flags air as a concern for unusually sensitive people.

Montezuma, Colorado's 5-year median AQI of 44 is 3 points above the national average of 41 — meaningfully more polluted than the typical U.S. metro tracked here. Within Colorado, Montezuma, Colorado runs more polluted than the state average of 39 — local sources or geography are concentrating pollution above the state's typical reading.

For context within Colorado: Alamosa, Colorado currently holds the state's cleanest grade (A, AQI 14), while Jefferson, Colorado sits at the bottom (D, AQI 47).

What's in Montezuma, Colorado's Air?

The dominant pollutant in Montezuma, Colorado is Ground-Level Ozone. Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions. It is worst on hot, sunny, stagnant summer days. Ozone irritates the lungs, triggers asthma attacks, and reduces lung function — even healthy adults can feel chest tightness and shortness of breath after exercising in elevated ozone.

Days by Dominant Pollutant (2023)

PollutantDays as DominantShare of Year
Ground-Level Ozone364100%
Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)10%

Is the Air Getting Better or Worse?

Air quality in Montezuma, Colorado has held roughly steady over the past decade, with year-to-year shifts in median AQI of less than half a point. That stability makes the city's long-run grade a reliable signal of what residents can expect day-to-day.

In 2014, Montezuma, Colorado posted a median AQI of 45. By 2023 that figure was 44 — a drop of 1 AQI points cleaner across 10 years of EPA records.

Year-by-Year AQI in Montezuma, Colorado

YearMedian AQIGood DaysUnhealthy DaysDominant Pollutant
2014452850Ozone
2015442820Ozone
2016442860Ozone
2017442841Ozone
2018442594Ozone
2019462790Ozone
2020443012Ozone
2021442802Ozone
2022443000Ozone
2023442910Ozone

Health Context for Montezuma, Colorado

Across the past five years, this area has logged just 4 days where AQI rose into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or worse — about 1 days per year, or roughly one every other month. That is a low count by national standards.

Healthy adults can continue normal outdoor activity in most weather, but should pay attention to AQI alerts during the worst pollution windows. People with asthma, heart disease, or pregnancy should reduce prolonged or intense outdoor exertion on flagged days, and consider running an indoor HEPA air cleaner during peak season. Because ozone peaks in the afternoon on hot sunny days, plan outdoor exercise for early morning or after sunset on bad-air days.

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.

Montezuma, Colorado has an Air Quality Grade of C (fair) with a 5-year median AQI of 44. The dominant pollutant is Ground-Level Ozone, and air quality has been stable 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.