Lakewood, Colorado Air Quality
Lakewood air quality today — the AQI, the main pollutant, and whether it’s safe to exercise outside right now
Lakewood, CO · Air quality right now
The air quality index in Lakewood, CO is 36 (Good) right now — safe for outdoor activity.
Is it safe to be outside in Lakewood today?
AQI 36 Yes — air quality is Good
Air is clean — great for outdoor activity.Main pollutant: PM2.5Observed 9:00 AM MDT
Pollutants right now
- PM2.55.0 µg/m³Main pollutantfine particles — smoke, exhaust, soot
- PM105.5 µg/m³coarse particles — dust, pollen, ash
- Ozone72 µg/m³smog — builds on hot, sunny days
- NO₂8.3 µg/m³nitrogen dioxide — traffic, combustion
ExerciseOK to run — no air-quality limits on outdoor exercise.
How to read Lakewood’s air quality
Guides: The AQI Scale, Explained · Air Quality Alerts, Decoded · How to Read a Wildfire Smoke Map · Why Wildfire Smoke Travels 1,000 Miles.
Air quality over time in Lakewood
Across the EPA’s county records from 2020 to 2025, Lakewood’s cleanest year was 2020 (median AQI 46) and its most polluted was 2024 (median AQI 50); the typical (median) day has trended more polluted since 2020.
| Year | Median AQI | Unhealthy+ | Main pollutant | USG | Moderate | Good |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 46 | 4 | Ozone | 23 | 108 | 231 |
| 2021 | 47 | 11 | Ozone | 44 | 88 | 222 |
| 2022 | 47 | 1 | Ozone | 30 | 100 | 234 |
| 2023 | 49 | 0 | Ozone | 18 | 141 | 206 |
| 2024 | 50 | 7 | Ozone | 30 | 137 | 192 |
| 2025 | 48 | 0 | Ozone | 13 | 137 | 215 |
“USG” is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (AQI 101–150); “Unhealthy+” combines the Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy, and Hazardous days. In 2024 the EPA tightened the annual fine-particle (PM2.5) standard to 9 µg/m³ from the previous 12 µg/m³, so counties near the old limit read worse against the new one. Source: EPA AQS annual summaries, 2020–2025.
Frequently asked
- What was the worst year for air quality in Lakewood?
- In the EPA's 2020–2025 county records, 2021 had the most days above AQI 100: 55 days (44 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, 11 Unhealthy or worse). The highest median AQI came in 2024 (50; 2021's was 47).
- How many unhealthy air days does Lakewood have?
- Across 2020–2025, 8% of the days reported for Lakewood's county had an AQI above 100 (181 of 2192), about 30 days a year. 2025 had 13 days.
- What's the main air pollutant in Lakewood?
- Ozone: it drove Lakewood's county AQI on the most days in every year of the EPA's 2020–2025 records.