United States · Texas · 40 places
Air quality in Texas today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Odessa has the cleanest air of the 38 Texas cities we track (AQI 9, Good), and Arlington the worst (AQI 82, Moderate). League City has the most tree cover, at 47.9% — #18 of 278 large US cities.
Every place is measured the same way, over the same 1.2 mi (2 km) around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
Average right now
AQI 48
Good
- places tracked
- 40
- average tree cover
- 23.4%
- US cities: 25.1%
- worst air now: Arlington
- 82
- cleanest air now: Odessa
- 9
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Texas · average AQI 48
Air quality today across Texas, city by city
| Houston | 62Moderate | 15.6% | 44.9K | #186 of 278 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio | 38Good | 14.7% | 48.1K | #193 of 278 |
| Dallas | 57Moderate | 8.3% | 68.2K | #245 of 278 |
| Fort Worth | 53Moderate | 20.1% | 31.1K | #157 of 278 |
| Austin | 25Good | 28.2% | 5.5K | #112 of 278 |
| El Paso | 66Moderate | 0.9% | 91.4K | #278 of 278 |
| Arlington | 82Moderate | 31.6% | — | #82 of 278 |
| Corpus Christi | 18Good | 9.8% | 38.7K | #236 of 278 |
| Plano | 42Good | 14.5% | 48.7K | #196 of 278 |
| Laredo | 47Good | 14.8% | 47.6K | #191 of 278 |
| Lubbock | 20Good | 6.3% | 74.5K | #257 of 278 |
| Garland | 74Moderate | 26.5% | 11.0K | #125 of 278 |
| Irving | 57Moderate | 34.3% | — | #68 of 278 |
| Cypress | 71Moderate | 36.3% | — | — |
| Amarillo | 44Good | 5.5% | 76.8K | #262 of 278 |
| Grand Prairie | 57Moderate | 30.3% | — | #94 of 278 |
| Brownsville | 57Moderate | 32.9% | — | #75 of 278 |
| McKinney | 55Moderate | 36.3% | — | #57 of 278 |
| Frisco | 57Moderate | 17.7% | 38.6K | #175 of 278 |
| Pasadena | 44Good | 37.9% | — | #46 of 278 |
| Mesquite | 57Moderate | 28.3% | 5.3K | #111 of 278 |
| Killeen | 11Good | 25.7% | 13.5K | #133 of 278 |
| McAllen | 24Good | 25.1% | 15.4K | #136 of 278 |
| Carrollton | 74Moderate | 22.5% | 23.6K | #146 of 278 |
| Midland | 36Good | 4.7% | 79.5K | #267 of 278 |
| Waco | 31Good | 28.4% | 5.0K | #107 of 278 |
| Denton | 40Good | 28.3% | 5.3K | #110 of 278 |
| Abilene | 25Good | 19.9% | 31.7K | #158 of 278 |
| Round Rock | 44Good | 33.3% | — | #74 of 278 |
| Beaumont | 71Moderate | 36.5% | — | #56 of 278 |
| Odessa | 9Good | 1.4% | 89.8K | #276 of 278 |
| Richardson | 57Moderate | 26.6% | 10.7K | #121 of 278 |
| Pearland | 81Moderate | 34.1% | — | #69 of 278 |
| College Station | 64Moderate | 33.7% | — | #71 of 278 |
| Wichita Falls | 27Good | 19.6% | 32.7K | #161 of 278 |
| Lewisville | 67Moderate | 25.0% | 15.6K | #137 of 278 |
| Tyler | 70Moderate | 46.6% | — | #21 of 278 |
| San Angelo | 11Good | 14.5% | 48.7K | #194 of 278 |
| Alief | 76Moderate | 27.5% | 7.8K | — |
| League City | 62Moderate | 47.9% | — | #18 of 278 |
Air quality is the US AQI from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where available, otherwise the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, refreshed hourly. Tree cover is measured within 1.2 mi (2 km) of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery. The US greenness rank covers cities of 100,000+ people; see the full ranking.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Texas lost?
Since 2001, Texas has lost about 5.43 million acres (2.2 million hectares) of forest (about 22,000 km²): 26% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 1.35 million acres (546,000 hectares) (25%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 5.43 million acres (2.2 million ha)about 22,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 26%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1.35 million acres (546,000 ha)deforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Acres of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 73,100 acres (29,600 ha) | 203,000 acres (82,000 ha) | 276,000 acres (112,000 ha) |
| 2002 | 54,400 acres (22,000 ha) | 156,000 acres (63,300 ha) | 211,000 acres (85,300 ha) |
| 2003 | 50,400 acres (20,400 ha) | 142,000 acres (57,500 ha) | 192,000 acres (77,800 ha) |
| 2004 | 73,300 acres (29,700 ha) | 220,000 acres (88,900 ha) | 293,000 acres (119,000 ha) |
| 2005 | 74,600 acres (30,200 ha) | 222,000 acres (89,900 ha) | 297,000 acres (120,000 ha) |
| 2006 | 78,600 acres (31,800 ha) | 190,000 acres (76,800 ha) | 268,000 acres (109,000 ha) |
| 2007 | 83,800 acres (33,900 ha) | 224,000 acres (90,500 ha) | 307,000 acres (124,000 ha) |
| 2008 | 69,000 acres (27,900 ha) | 197,000 acres (79,800 ha) | 266,000 acres (108,000 ha) |
| 2009 | 56,700 acres (23,000 ha) | 170,000 acres (68,700 ha) | 227,000 acres (91,700 ha) |
| 2010 | 61,300 acres (24,800 ha) | 198,000 acres (80,100 ha) | 259,000 acres (105,000 ha) |
| 2011 | 66,300 acres (26,800 ha) | 249,000 acres (101,000 ha) | 315,000 acres (128,000 ha) |
| 2012 | 76,800 acres (31,100 ha) | 231,000 acres (93,500 ha) | 308,000 acres (125,000 ha) |
| 2013 | 36,700 acres (14,800 ha) | 163,000 acres (65,900 ha) | 200,000 acres (80,700 ha) |
| 2014 | 59,400 acres (24,000 ha) | 163,000 acres (65,800 ha) | 222,000 acres (89,900 ha) |
| 2015 | 36,900 acres (14,900 ha) | 137,000 acres (55,600 ha) | 174,000 acres (70,500 ha) |
| 2016 | 50,100 acres (20,300 ha) | 162,000 acres (65,500 ha) | 212,000 acres (85,800 ha) |
| 2017 | 45,100 acres (18,200 ha) | 153,000 acres (61,900 ha) | 198,000 acres (80,200 ha) |
| 2018 | 39,600 acres (16,000 ha) | 128,000 acres (51,600 ha) | 167,000 acres (67,700 ha) |
| 2019 | 38,100 acres (15,400 ha) | 122,000 acres (49,300 ha) | 160,000 acres (64,800 ha) |
| 2020 | 40,600 acres (16,400 ha) | 127,000 acres (51,400 ha) | 167,000 acres (67,800 ha) |
| 2021 | 36,900 acres (14,900 ha) | 105,000 acres (42,700 ha) | 142,000 acres (57,600 ha) |
| 2022 | 37,000 acres (15,000 ha) | 118,000 acres (47,600 ha) | 155,000 acres (62,600 ha) |
| 2023 | 39,700 acres (16,100 ha) | 115,000 acres (46,700 ha) | 155,000 acres (62,700 ha) |
| 2024 | 36,100 acres (14,600 ha) | 98,500 acres (39,900 ha) | 135,000 acres (54,500 ha) |
| 2025 | 35,400 acres (14,300 ha) | 91,500 acres (37,000 ha) | 127,000 acres (51,400 ha) |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 143,000 acres (57,700 hectares) a year in 2021–2025, against 181,000 acres (73,200 hectares) a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2011, when about 315,000 acres (128,000 hectares) of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Texas?
- Loggingcan grow back73% · 3.95 million acres (1.6 million ha)
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good14% · 753,000 acres (305,000 ha)
- Towns and roadscleared for good9.5% · 515,000 acres (208,000 ha)
Also: mining and energy, wildfires, storms, floods and other natural causes, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. How it's measured
Other states
Clean-air buying guides
Cleaner air at home in Texas
Picked by tested clean-air delivery rate (CADR), noise and running cost, from independent test labels. No brand pays to be listed.
- The best air purifiers for wildfire smoke and smog
Air purifiers that keep up with wildfire smoke and winter smog, ranked by verified smoke CADR, with the room each one clears on a smoky day.
- The best air purifiers for bedrooms: quiet picks sized for your room
Quiet HEPA air purifiers for bedrooms, compared on what matters at night: noise on the lowest setting (from 20 dB), verified room size and filter cost.
- The best air purifiers under $200
Good HEPA air purifiers under $200 at the makers' own prices, compared on verified clean air, room size and what the filters cost each year.
Your own street