Air Quality Rankings for Texas (2026)

Texas has 42 cities tracked by EPA air-quality monitors, with a state-wide 5-year median AQI of 42 — roughly matching the national average of AQI 41. Potter, Texas ranks #1 with the cleanest air (AQI 28, Grade B), while El Paso, Texas sits at the bottom (AQI 60, Grade D). The rankings below are computed from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), which aggregates daily AQI readings from federally certified monitors into annual averages. Cities are sorted by 5-year median AQI (lowest = cleanest = #1). The 5-year window smooths out year-to-year volatility from weather and wildfire events.

Texas is bucking the national trend of broad improvement: 26 of 42 monitored cities show measurably worse air over the past decade, more than the 10 that are improving. Across western states this usually traces back to expanding wildfire smoke exposure; elsewhere it can reflect rising local emissions from population or freight growth.

The dominant pollutant across 25 of 42 Texas cities is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5). PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) is most often driven by combustion sources — vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, residential wood burning, and increasingly wildfire smoke. It penetrates deep into lung tissue and the bloodstream and is the air pollutant most strongly linked to long-term health impacts. Other Texas cities report Ground-Level Ozone (17) as their dominant concern.

The fastest-improving city in Texas is Ellis, Texas, with median AQI falling by 1.2 points per year. Steady improvement at that pace usually reflects fleet turnover (older diesels retiring), upwind power-plant retirements, or tighter regional emissions controls.

The city with the steepest decline is Culberson, Texas, where median AQI is rising by 1.7 points per year. Rapid deterioration in a single city usually points to either wildfire-smoke exposure (in the West) or a new local emissions source — a power plant, port, or freight corridor coming online.