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

Hillsborough County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 10 counties in 2002, at 206. Belknap County had the lowest, at 161. The median was 180. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Median18010 counties

Map of counties, 2002

Belknap County: 161 indexCarroll County: 164 indexCheshire County: 182 indexCoos County: 204 indexGrafton County: 177 indexHillsborough County: 206 indexMerrimack County: 164 indexRockingham County: 205 indexStrafford County: 200 indexSullivan County: 172 index
  • Under 180
  • 180 to 190
  • 190 to 200
  • 200 and over
index, 2002. Source: EPA, EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 2002

Hillsborough County: 206 indexHillsborough County206Rockingham County: 205 indexRockingham County205Coos County: 204 indexCoos County204Strafford County: 200 indexStrafford County200Cheshire County: 182 indexCheshire County182Grafton County: 177 indexGrafton County177Sullivan County: 172 indexSullivan County172Carroll County: 164 indexCarroll County164Merrimack County: 164 indexMerrimack County164Belknap County: 161 indexBelknap County161Hillsborough County: 206 indexHillsborough County206Rockingham County: 205 indexRockingham County205Coos County: 204 indexCoos County204Strafford County: 200 indexStrafford County200Cheshire County: 182 indexCheshire County182Grafton County: 177 indexGrafton County177Sullivan County: 172 indexSullivan County172Carroll County: 164 indexCarroll County164Merrimack County: 164 indexMerrimack County164Belknap County: 161 indexBelknap County161
index. Source: EPA, EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2002
index
Change on 2001
1Hillsborough County206+1
2Rockingham County205+4
3Coos County204+54
4Strafford County200+3
5Cheshire County182+3
6Grafton County177+37
7Sullivan County172+29
8Carroll County164+42
8Merrimack County164-28
10Belknap County161-29

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. 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 New Hampshire by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2002) [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 New Hampshire by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2002. 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/new-hampshire-counties?period=2002. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2026. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Counties in New Hampshire by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2002. 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/new-hampshire-counties?period=2002.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2026) EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI, Counties in New Hampshire by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2002 [Dataset]. Available at: https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/new-hampshire-counties?period=2002 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{environmental_counties_in_new_hampshire_2002,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI: Counties in New Hampshire by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2002}},
  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/new-hampshire-counties?period=2002. 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 New Hampshire by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2002
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/new-hampshire-counties?period=2002
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/new-hampshire-counties?period=2002.
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.

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 New Hampshire by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"aqi_max","level":"province","within":"New Hampshire","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=aqi_max&level=province&within=New%20Hampshire&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)?

Hillsborough County, with 206 in 2002, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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

Belknap County, with 161 in 2002.

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.

Highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA): other rankings

Counties in New Hampshire: more rankings