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

Crittenden County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 20 counties in 1996, at 200. Garland County had the lowest, at 42. The median was 55. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Highest200Crittenden County

Lowest42Garland County

Median5520 counties

Map of counties, 1996

Under 50
50 to 51
51 to 58
58 to 100
100 and over
No data

index, 1996. 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, 1996

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	1996 index	Change on 1995
1	Crittenden County	200	-19
2	Pulaski County	154	-33
3	Clark County	140	-11
4	Newton County	133	+7
5	Montgomery County	93	-29
6	Arkansas County	68	+2
7	Phillips County	61	+9
8	Ashley County	59	-7
9	Marion County	58	+15
10	Sebastian County	57	+5
11	Washington County	52	+4
12	Craighead County	51	-10
12	Ouachita County	51	-1
12	Polk County	51	-2
12	Union County	51	-5
12	White County	51	-3
17	Jefferson County	48	-12
18	Miller County	47	-5
19	Pope County	43	-3
20	Garland County	42	-10

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 1996 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 Arkansas by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1996) [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 Arkansas by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1996. 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/arkansas-counties?period=1996. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2026. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Counties in Arkansas by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1996. 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/arkansas-counties?period=1996.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2026) EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI, Counties in Arkansas by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1996 [Dataset]. Available at: https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/arkansas-counties?period=1996 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_arkansas_by_1996,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI: Counties in Arkansas by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1996}},
  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/arkansas-counties?period=1996. 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 Arkansas by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1996
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/arkansas-counties?period=1996
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/arkansas-counties?period=1996.
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  -

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

rank_places {"indicator":"aqi_max","level":"province","within":"Arkansas","limit":10}
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Questions

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

Crittenden County, with 200 in 1996, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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

Garland County, with 42 in 1996.

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 1996 and are not ranked.