Chaves County, New Mexico air quality history

Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Chaves, New Mexico, 1989–2025.

89%

Good days in 2022

Median daily AQI, 2022

Days above 100 in 2022

121

Days with an AQI in 2022 (of 365)

In 2022, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Chaves, New Mexico on 121 days. 108 of those days (89%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 26. That median is lower than the typical monitored county in New Mexico (median 43.5 across 12 counties), and lower than the typical monitored U.S. county (41). The main pollutant was fine particles (PM2.5) on 121 days. Across the years with fuller monitoring, the share of Good days rose: an average of 82% in 2000–2002 versus 91% in 2010–2022.

EPA did not report an AQI for every day of 2022 here (121 of 365 days). Figures describe monitored days only; seasonal monitoring (for example, ozone measured only in warmer months) can make a county look cleaner or dirtier than a full-year record would.

Years with fewer than 120 monitored days (2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2025…) are shown in the table but left out of comparisons and trend statements.

How the days broke down each year

Each bar is one year. The colored segments show the share of monitored days that fell in each AQI category.

Good
Moderate
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Unhealthy
Very Unhealthy
Hazardous

Typical and high-end AQI over time

The median is the middle day of the year. The 90th percentile is the level that only the highest 10% of days exceeded.

Median daily AQI
90th-percentile daily AQI

Main pollutant by day, 2022

On each monitored day, the AQI reflects whichever measured pollutant had the highest index. This counts how many days each pollutant set the AQI. A pollutant that was not measured here cannot appear.

Pollutant	Days as main pollutant	Share of monitored days
Fine particles (PM2.5)	121	100%

Year-by-year data

Annual AQI summary by year
Year	Days with AQI	Good	Moderate	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Median AQI	90th pct.	Max AQI	Main pollutant
2025	86	79	5	2	29	47	117	PM2.5
2024	114	104	10	0	27	47	88	PM2.5
2023	118	107	11	0	24	47	75	PM2.5
2022	121	108	13	0	26	51	64	PM2.5
2021	121	110	11	0	24	48	74	PM2.5
2020	119	108	11	0	23	49	78	PM2.5
2019	118	113	5	0	21	42	58	PM2.5
2018	118	102	16	0	28	52	62	PM2.5
2017	119	111	7	1	23	44	112	PM2.5
2016	117	113	4	0	22	39	90	PM2.5
2015	114	107	7	0	23	48	72	PM2.5
2014	114	90	24	0	29	56	78	PM2.5
2013	110	99	10	1	29	51	121	PM2.5
2012	110	97	13	0	33	53	61	PM2.5
2011	119	92	27	0	34	59	99	PM2.5
2010	128	118	10	0	27	47	75	PM2.5
2009	163	146	17	0	28	51	60	PM2.5
2008	126	109	17	0	29	51	72	PM2.5
2007	125	109	16	0	32	52	82	PM2.5
2006	126	106	20	0	32	52	68	PM2.5
2005	124	100	24	0	33	55	66	PM2.5
2004	120	87	33	0	39	59	75	PM2.5
2003	123	80	42	1	42	61	140	PM2.5
2002	124	98	26	0	34	57	70	PM2.5
2001	124	103	20	1	35	54	103	PM2.5
2000	149	126	23	0	34	52	79	PM2.5
1999	115	96	19	0	35	53	67	PM2.5
1998	61	61	0	0	18	27	43	PM10
1997	59	59	0	0	13	22	31	PM10
1996	61	61	0	0	16	27	34	PM10
1995	57	55	2	0	17	31	56	PM10
1994	61	61	0	0	18	27	48	PM10
1993	60	60	0	0	13	25	31	PM10
1992	61	61	0	0	15	24	46	PM10
1991	60	59	1	0	14	22	52	PM10
1990	50	50	0	0	16	29	36	PM10
1989	7	7	0	0	35	41	41	PM10

What this data can and can’t tell you

It is a county-level summary. EPA reports one AQI per day for the county, based on the monitors operating there. Air at a particular street, school or home can differ, especially near roads, industry or wildfire smoke.

It is not a health assessment. The AQI is EPA’s scale for communicating daily air quality. A county’s history can’t tell you what the health risk is for any particular person. For daily conditions and health guidance, see AirNow.

Rules change over time. EPA has revised AQI breakpoints, most recently for fine particles in 2024, so some year-to-year change can reflect the scale rather than the air.

All monitored counties in New Mexico

Source: U.S. EPA AirData, “Annual AQI by County” files for 1989–2025 (EPA download page). EPA file dates: 2026-06-26. Imported into EnviroNearby November 5, 2026. How we use this data · Report a problem