Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA)

Montgomery County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 25 counties in 1998, at 216. Colbert County had the lowest, at 41. The median was 56. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Highest216Montgomery County

Lowest41Colbert County

Median5625 counties

Map of counties, 1998

Under 49
49 to 52
52 to 130
130 to 200
200 and over
No data

index, 1998. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: EPA, EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 1998

index. Source: EPA, EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	1998 index	Change on 1997
1	Montgomery County	216	+104
2	Shelby County	213	+21
3	Jefferson County	212	+10
4	DeKalb County	205	+26
5	Elmore County	203	+88
6	Mobile County	201	+37
7	Madison County	200	+44
8	Clay County	185	+35
9	Lawrence County	177	+41
10	Geneva County	133	+7
11	Sumter County	122	+38
12	Escambia County	58	+7
13	Etowah County	56	+1
14	Houston County	54	+2
15	Pike County	53	+6
16	Calhoun County	51	+4
16	Russell County	51	-6
16	Talladega County	51	-7
19	Walker County	50	+7
20	Morgan County	49	-2
20	Tuscaloosa County	49	-9
22	Marengo County	47	-5
23	Limestone County	43	+6
24	Franklin County	42	-3
25	Colbert County	41	0

Other periods

About this ranking

Highest daily Air Quality Index (AQI) value recorded in a US county during the year, from the EPA AirData annual summaries. Values above 500 are beyond the AQI scale and are published as EPA computes them.

A single day decides the value, so one wildfire or dust event can set it. Dust from the dry Owens Lake bed puts Inyo and Mono counties in California in the thousands. United States counties with air quality monitors only, about 1,000 of some 3,100 in recent years; a county without monitors has no value. The number of days with an AQI differs between counties because some monitors run only in the ozone season.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. 6 counties with data in other periods have no value for 1998 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System, AirData. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2026). EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI (Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1998) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual

MLA 9

EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI, Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1998. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 July 2026, https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/alabama-counties?period=1998. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2026. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1998. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/alabama-counties?period=1998.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2026) EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI, Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1998 [Dataset]. Available at: https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/alabama-counties?period=1998 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_alabama_by_1998,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI: Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1998}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/alabama-counties?period=1998. Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System, AirData. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download\_files.html\#Annual. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
TI  - EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI: Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1998
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/13
PB  - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/alabama-counties?period=1998
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/alabama-counties?period=1998.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System, AirData. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/alabama-counties?period=1998" width="760" height="500" title="Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1998, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Alabama by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"aqi_max","level":"province","within":"Alabama","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=aqi_max&level=province&within=Alabama&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA)?

Montgomery County, with 216 in 1998, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Which county has the lowest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA)?

Colbert County, with 41 in 1998.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 6 counties have no value for 1998 and are not ranked.