Metro area air quality · 2025

Cañon City, CO

Median AQI 23 (Good). 93.4% of monitored days rated Good across this metro's EPA monitoring network.

Compiled by PlainAirData · August 4, 2026

23
Median AQI: 93.4%
Good-air days: 0
Unhealthy days: 92%
Cleaner than US metros

Cañon City, CO posted a 2025 median AQI of 23 (Good) with 93.4% Good days

According to the U.S. EPA Air Quality System, the Cañon City, CO CBSA recorded a median AQI of 23 across 362 monitored days in 2025, with 93.4% rated Good and 0 unhealthy or worse. This is an annual metro comparison, not a live advisory.

Data source EPA Air Quality System (AQS)

Cleaner than US metros: The Cañon City, CO CBSA's 93.4% Good-day share places it cleaner than 92% of US metros in 2025.
Closest median-AQI peer: Bend-Redmond, OR (89.3% Good, median AQI 23) is the closest nationwide median-AQI peer to Cañon City, CO.
2020–2025 Good-day shift: Cañon City, CO's Good-day share moved -6.6 points from 2020 to 2025 (median AQI +12).
Median AQI: Median AQI: 23

Aggregated from EPA Air Quality System (2025), 362 monitored days. EPA AQS →

The verdict

The Cañon City, CO metro runs good on the EPA scale, among the cleanest 10% of US metros, a median AQI of 23 with 93.4% of 362 monitored days in the Good band.

23
median AQI · Good: 93.4%
days rated Good: 92%
cleaner than US metros: 77
worst single reading

No day crossed into the Unhealthy tier across the metro's monitors in 2025.

Cañon City, CO metro's Good-day share fell from 97.8% to 93.4% between the 2024 and 2025 EPA annual releases, a change of -4.4 percentage points.
Cañon City, CO metro's median AQI rose from 13 to 23 between the 2024 and 2025 EPA annual releases, a change of +10 points.
Cañon City, CO metro's peak single-day AQI rose from 59 to 77 between the 2024 and 2025 EPA annual releases, a change of +18 points.

Insights: Cañon City, CO metro. Aggregated EPA AQS monitors across this Core-Based Statistical Area logged a median Air Quality Index of 23 over 362 measured days in 2025, which corresponds to a Good band and a Excellent metro-wide health grade. The monitored-day split lands at 338 Good days (93%), 24 Moderate (7%), and 0 Unhealthy-for-Sensitive-Groups (0%). The 90th-percentile AQI finished at 45 while the highest single-day reading hit 77 (Moderate). Metro residents averaged roughly 28.0 clean-air days per 30-day window across the reporting year.

Across the 2020–2025 trend window, the share of monitored days rated Good shifted by -6.6 points (measured against 17 monitored days in 2020 and 362 in 2025, so raw day counts are not comparable) and the median AQI moved +12 points, which classifies the multi-year trajectory as worsening. The metro recorded no Unhealthy-tier days in this annual dataset. Metros with comparable AQI profiles include Bend-Redmond, OR (89.3% good, AQI 23); Juneau, AK (84.3% good, AQI 23); Pullman, WA (86.8% good, AQI 23).

Air Quality Summary

Median AQI

Good

Good Days

93.4%

338 of 362 days

Max AQI

Moderate

Health Grade

Excellent

90th pct: 45

AQI Day Breakdown (2025)

Distribution of 362 monitored days across EPA AQI categories.

Good

338

93%

Moderate

USG

Unhealthy

Very Unhealthy

Hazardous

Health Impact Assessment

Excellent

The Cañon City, CO metro area's air quality is rated Excellent based on 93.4% good air days. No unhealthy air days were recorded in 2025.

Air quality is generally acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should monitor real-time conditions at AirNow.gov during high-pollution events.

How does the Cañon City, CO metro compare?

How Cañon City, CO compares

Compare against

Good-day share better than typical

Cañon City, CO 93.4%

Bend-Redmond, OR 89.3%

Typical US metro 70.6%

Median AQI better than typical

Cañon City, CO 23

Bend-Redmond, OR 23

Typical US metro 41

Unhealthy days / yr better than typical

Cañon City, CO 0

Bend-Redmond, OR 1

Typical US metro 1

5-Year Air Quality Trend

Air quality is worsening in the Cañon City, CO metro. Highest Good-day share: 2023 (99.4%, 162 of 163 monitored days).

Year	Good	Moderate	Median AQI	Max AQI
2020	17	0	11	27
2021	85	1	15	62
2022	115	3	12	77
2023	162	1	12	71
2024	354	8	13	59
2025	338	24	23	77

Metros with a similar median AQI

CBSA peers nationwide whose annual median AQI sits near Cañon City, CO (23).

Bend-Redmond, OR

Median AQI 23 · 89.3% Good-day share

Juneau, AK

Median AQI 23 · 84.3% Good-day share

Pullman, WA

Median AQI 23 · 86.8% Good-day share

Shelton, WA

Median AQI 23 · 90.4% Good-day share

Aberdeen, WA

Median AQI 22 · 97.3% Good-day share

Bremerton-Silverdale, WA

Median AQI 22 · 95.5% Good-day share

Metros with similar unhealthy-day exposure

A second relationship type: metros whose unhealthy-or-worse day count is closest to Cañon City, CO's 0 (independent of median AQI).

Aberdeen, SD

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 27

Adrian, MI

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 41

Akron, OH

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 45

Albany, GA

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 46

Albany, OR

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 27

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY

0 unhealthy-or-worse days · median AQI 41

More Air Quality Data

Explore EPA air quality rankings and guides across U.S. metros and counties.

Cleanest Metro Areas

U.S. metros ranked by their share of Good air-quality days.

Worst Air Quality

Counties and metros with the most unhealthy air days.

All Metro Areas

Annual AQI by CBSA for every monitored U.S. metro area.

Best and Worst City Air

What drives urban air quality and how metro areas compare.

Air Quality Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the air quality in the Cañon City, CO metro area? ▼

The Cañon City, CO metro area has a median Air Quality Index (AQI) of 23, rated "Good." 93.4% of monitored days (338 out of 362) had good air quality in 2025.

How many unhealthy air days does Cañon City, CO have? ▼

In 2025, the Cañon City, CO metro area recorded 0 unhealthy air days (0 Unhealthy, 0 Very Unhealthy, 0 Hazardous). The maximum AQI reached 77.

Is air quality in Cañon City, CO getting better or worse? ▼

Air quality in the Cañon City, CO metro is worsening across floor-qualifying years (2022-2025); years with fewer than 100 monitored days are excluded from that direction. Highest qualifying Good-day share: 2023 at 99.4% (162 of 163 days). Lowest qualifying Good-day share: 2025 at 93.4% (338 of 362 days).

What does AQI 23 mean for health? ▼

An AQI of 23 is "Good", air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no health risk. This is the best category on the EPA's AQI scale.

What is the 90th percentile AQI for Cañon City, CO? ▼

The 90th percentile AQI for the Cañon City, CO metro area is 45, meaning 90% of monitored days had an AQI at or below this level. The maximum AQI recorded was 77 (Moderate).

How does Cañon City, CO compare to other metro areas? ▼

The Cañon City, CO metro has 93.4% good air days. Similar metros: Bend-Redmond, OR (89.3% good), Juneau, AK (84.3% good), Pullman, WA (86.8% good).

Data Sources

Primary Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Air Quality System (AQS), Annual AQI by CBSA dataset, 2020–2025. See our methodology for how AQI, median, and coverage figures are computed.

Read our methodology , how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Source: U.S. EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by CBSA summary files (metro-level) · 2020–2025 Accessed 2026-07-06

Send the source-year summary or download its ready-to-use data card.

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Every figure on PlainAirData is rendered directly from EPA AQS air-quality monitoring data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on EPA AQS air-quality monitoring data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.