Cities Where Air Quality Will Be Worst This Holiday Weekend

By Evan Comen • July 4, 2025

Silhouette of a factory with smoke emissions against a vibrant sunset sky.

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This holiday weekend, stagnant summer heat and a lack of atmospheric mixing are combining to drive fine particulate pollution to dangerous levels across parts of Texas, Louisiana, California, and the central U.S. In dozens of cities, PM2.5 concentrations are forecast to exceed levels considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, far surpassing health standards set by the EPA.

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The National Weather Service issued air quality alerts for 43 counties, representing more than 28 million Americans. While the EPA standard for healthy air is 9.0 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter of air year-round, pollution is forecast to more than triple that in some major cities. A closer look at the data reveals where particulate matter concentration will be highest this weekend.

To determine the cities where air quality will be worst this holiday weekend, Climate Crisis 247 reviewed data on particulate matter forecasts from the EPA’s AirNow platform. Cities were ranked based on the average forecast concentration of 24-hour PM2.5 pollution for July 4 to 6, 2025. Only cities with at least 50,000 residents were considered. Population data is from the U.S. Census Bureau.

25. Chino Hills, CA

Photo by Haneef Khan on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 12.1 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 14.3 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 14.7 µg/m³
Total population: 78,223

24. Hacienda Heights, CA

Photo by Ameer Basheer on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 12.0 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 14.5 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 14.6 µg/m³
Total population: 55,461

23. Covina, CA

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina 🇺🇦 on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 12.7 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 15.2 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 13.3 µg/m³
Total population: 50,717

22. Frisco, TX

Photo by Nancy Jo Lambert on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 14.3 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 14.4 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 12.8 µg/m³
Total population: 202,075

21. Mesquite, TX

Photo by Denitsa Kireva on Pexels

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 17.1 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 12.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 11.5 µg/m³
Total population: 149,439

20. West Covina, CA

Photo by ELG21 on Pixabay

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 12.4 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 15.0 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 14.2 µg/m³
Total population: 108,173

19. Allen, TX

Photo by Patrick O'Connor on Pexels

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 14.7 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 15.0 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 12.0 µg/m³
Total population: 105,444

18. Santa Barbara, CA

Photo by Yifan Ma on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 6.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 9.2 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 25.9 µg/m³
Total population: 88,640

17. Diamond Bar, CA

Photo by Nikki on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 12.3 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 14.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 15.2 µg/m³
Total population: 54,534

16. Carrollton, TX

Photo by Herve on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 15.0 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 13.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 13.5 µg/m³
Total population: 132,284

15. The Woodlands, TX

Photo by Austin Hervias on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 15.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 13.0 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 13.7 µg/m³
Total population: 118,402

14. Plano, TX

Photo by Dimitris Tselios on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 15.4 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 14.7 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 12.5 µg/m³
Total population: 284,948

13. Grand Forks, ND

Photo by Jason Rojas on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 4.7 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 5.8 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 32.3 µg/m³
Total population: 58,935

12. Garland, TX

Photo by Bryan Dickerson on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 16.8 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 14.1 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 12.1 µg/m³
Total population: 244,026

11. Irving, TX

Photo by Daniel Jerez on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 16.0 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 13.3 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 13.8 µg/m³
Total population: 254,962

10. Conroe, TX

Photo by Obed Esquivel-Pickett on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 16.5 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 12.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 13.8 µg/m³
Total population: 92,475

9. Dallas, TX

Photo by Daniel Halseth on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 17.0 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 13.4 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 12.8 µg/m³
Total population: 1,300,642

8. Richardson, TX

Photo by Matt Parsi on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 16.2 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 14.6 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 12.6 µg/m³
Total population: 118,063

7. Beaumont, TX

Photo by Alexey Demidov on Pexels

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 19.2 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 13.0 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 11.6 µg/m³
Total population: 114,573

6. Corpus Christi, TX

Photo by Jacques Bopp on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 12.7 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 17.8 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 14.6 µg/m³
Total population: 317,804

5. Longview, TX

Photo by Reddic Rau on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 14.2 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 16.5 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 14.8 µg/m³
Total population: 82,176

4. Port Arthur, TX

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 20.7 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 13.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 14.2 µg/m³
Total population: 55,897

3. Lafayette, LA

Photo by Nicole Herrero on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 21.4 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 21.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 13.9 µg/m³
Total population: 121,706

2. Lake Charles, LA

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 21.1 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 22.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 15.6 µg/m³
Total population: 82,430

1. Wichita, KS

Photo by Jolene Phimmasone on Unsplash

Forecast PM2.5, July 4th, 2025: 33.2 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 5th, 2025: 29.9 µg/m³
Forecast PM2.5, July 6th, 2025: 27.7 µg/m³
Total population: 395,951

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