By mid-January, half of Austin reaches for the tissues and blames a winter cold. Most of the time, it’s cedar. The live map at the top of this page shows what you’re actually breathing right now, straight from EPA AirNow monitors across Austin and Travis County.
We watch those monitors all year. The city hands your lungs three separate problems: mountain cedar pollen in winter, ground-level ozone in summer, and wildfire smoke that can roll in during any month.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) folds all of it into one number. Green means the air is clean. Red means everyone should ease up outdoors. Below the map, we explain what today’s reading means for your home and how to protect the people in it.
TL;DR Quick Answers
Here’s the fast version.
- Check the live map above for Austin’s reading right now. Below 50 is Good, 51 to 100 is Moderate, and anything past 100 hits sensitive groups first.
- Cedar fever runs from mid-December through February, and January is the worst of it.
- Ozone climbs on hot, sunny, low-wind afternoons, usually 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. from May through October.
- Most cedar-fever homes do well starting at MERV 11. If someone has asthma or COPD, or you’re caring for infants or older adults, move up to MERV 13.
- When the air turns bad, check your filter every couple of weeks instead of trusting the 90-day label on the box.
Top Takeaways
- Austin has three bad-air seasons, not one, so a once-a-year fix leaves you exposed for months.
- Travis County keeps failing on ozone, which means summer afternoons need the same respect you give cedar season.
- The air inside your house is often dirtier than the air outside, so shutting the windows only gets you halfway.
- A correctly sized, well-kept filter is the strongest move you control at home.
What is Austin’s air quality right now?
The dial above answers that in a second, drawn from EPA AirNow monitors around Austin and Travis County. It gives you the current number, the color band, and the pollutant behind the reading, and it refreshes through the day. Once that number slides into orange or red, the people who feel it first are kids, older adults, and anyone with asthma or a heart condition.
Why Austin’s air spikes: cedar, ozone, and smoke
These three threats keep different schedules, which is exactly why one filter setting cannot carry you through the whole year.
Cedar fever (winter)
What locals call mountain cedar is really Ashe juniper, and it blankets the Hill Country west of Interstate 35. From mid-December into February, those trees release enormous pollen clouds, with the heaviest counts in January. The pollen itself is not especially toxic. The sheer volume is what overwhelms your system and sets off the sneezing, congestion, and bone-deep fatigue people call cedar fever.
Ozone (summer)
Ground-level ozone cooks up when sunlight hits vehicle and industrial emissions on hot, low-wind days. In Austin, that puts the worst readings on summer afternoons, roughly 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. between May and October. When a bad day is coming, the TCEQ issues an Ozone Action Day alert, so you get a heads-up to plan around it.
Wildfire and regional smoke (year-round)
Smoke is the unpredictable one. Watch for a sudden jump in fine particle pollution on the live map, a haze to the west or northwest, and a smoky smell stronger than usual Austin air. Those are your cues that PM2.5 has climbed, and it can happen in any season.
How the AQI scale works
The AQI runs from 0 to 500 across six color bands. Green covers 0 to 50 (Good) and yellow covers 51 to 100 (Moderate). Orange (101 to 150) is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, red (151 to 200) turns unhealthy for everyone, and purple and maroon mark Very Unhealthy and Hazardous air. The higher the number climbs, the more reason you have to stay in and let your filter do the work.
How to protect your family at home
This is the part you actually control. Since indoor air often carries more pollution than the air outdoors, sealing up the house is only the opening move. What your HVAC system pulls out of the air matters more.
Start with the right filter. MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, the scale that rates how much a filter traps. Across the residential systems we have tested, MERV 11 is the sensible place to begin for most cedar-fever homes, since it captures pollen well and still lets your blower breathe. When someone in the house has asthma or COPD, or you are caring for infants or older adults, we step up to MERV 13.
Here is the honest trade-off. A higher MERV rating fights airflow, and some older or undersized blowers strain against MERV 13. If your system starts short-cycling or the airflow drops off, drop back to MERV 11 and change it more often. Not sure which size fits your slot? Our air filter size guide walks you through measuring it.
During a spike, change the filter on the air’s schedule rather than the box’s. In our Central Texas fieldwork, hot, high-pollen, and smoky stretches load a filter far faster than any calendar would predict. Keep the live Austin AQI map we run with Filterbuy open on the rough days.
“We’ve tracked Austin’s monitors through enough cedar seasons to know the number on the map only tells half the story. The other half is what you do in the next hour, and that’s usually a fresh, correctly sized filter.”
Essential Resources
We lean on this same set to keep up with Austin’s air. Save them.
- EPA AirNow, AQI Basics. airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics How the six AQI bands and colors work.
- TCEQ, Today’s Texas Air Quality Forecast. tceq.texas.gov forecast Daily ozone and particle forecast with Ozone Action Day alerts.
- National Weather Service, Austin/San Antonio Air Quality. weather.gov/ewx/airquality The local relay of Ozone Action Day alerts.
- CAPCOG Air Quality Program. capcog.org air quality Regional monitoring and planning for the Austin metro.
- Air Central Texas, Ozone Action Days. aircentraltexas.org Sign up for alerts and see same-day reduction steps.
- NIH (PMC), indoor mountain cedar pollen in Austin. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov PMC8835118 A peer-reviewed look at indoor cedar exposure.
- U.S. Department of Energy, Air Conditioner Maintenance. energy.gov AC maintenance Filter cleaning and replacement guidance.
Statistics
- The City of Austin reports the metro now exceeds EPA standards for both ozone and fine particle pollution, which puts it at high risk of a nonattainment designation. austintexas.gov
- In the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air report, Travis County earned an F for ozone with about 6 unhealthy days a year, and the Austin metro ranked 46th worst in the nation for ozone. lung.org
- The EPA finds indoor air often holds 2 to 5 times more of some pollutants than outdoor air, and we spend about 90% of our time inside. epa.gov
Final Thoughts and Opinion
Here’s our honest read after years of watching these numbers: most Austin households brace hard for cedar and barely prepare for ozone. Cedar is miserable, but at least it announces itself. Ozone stays quiet and goes after sensitive lungs every bit as hard, and our summers keep running hotter.
None of the fix is complicated or costly. Match your filter to the season, swap it on the air’s schedule, and glance at the live map before you plan an afternoon outside. For the wider view across the state, our Texas air quality hub follows the same trends.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the air quality index in Austin right now?
The dial at the top of this page pulls Austin’s current AQI from EPA AirNow monitors and refreshes through the day. Below 50 is Good, and 51 to 100 is Moderate. Once it passes 100, sensitive groups should cut back on time outside.
Is it safe to go outside in Austin today?
Look at the color band on the map first. Green and yellow are fine for most people, while orange tells kids, older adults, and anyone with asthma to ease off hard outdoor effort. On red days, we keep everyone’s time outside short.
When is cedar fever season in Austin?
Mountain cedar releases pollen from mid-December through February, peaking in January. In some years symptoms start as early as November and hang on into early March.
Why is Austin’s ozone worse in summer?
Ozone forms when sunlight reacts with vehicle and industrial emissions, so hot, sunny, low-wind afternoons push the readings highest. That’s why Ozone Action Days bunch up between May and October.
What MERV rating should I use for cedar fever?
We start most Austin homes at MERV 11, which catches cedar pollen without choking airflow. For asthma, COPD, infants, or older adults, we recommend MERV 13, as long as your system can handle the extra resistance.
How often should I change my filter during a spike?
Check it every couple of weeks through heavy cedar or ozone stretches, and replace it once it looks loaded instead of waiting for the 90-day label. Hot, high-pollen, or smoky air can cut a filter’s life by a third or more.
Check Austin’s Air Before You Head Out
Austin’s bad-air days follow a rhythm once you learn the seasons, and the dial at the top of this page tells you where today lands. Check it before you plan an afternoon outside, then set your HVAC up with the right filter for the season. Want to be sure you’re picking the right rating? Our MERV rating guide lays out the full scale so your family can breathe easier at home.