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

Atlantic County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 19 counties in 1981, at 268. Gloucester County had the lowest, at 6. The median was 210. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Highest268Atlantic County

Lowest6Gloucester County

Median21019 counties

Map of counties, 1981

Under 95
95 to 210
210 to 220
220 to 230
230 and over
No data

index, 1981. 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, 1981

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	1981 index	Change on 1980
1	Atlantic County	268	+30
2	Hudson County	253	+31
3	Camden County	235	-4
4	Cape May County	230	+11
5	Mercer County	229	-1
6	Burlington County	225	-61
7	Somerset County	219	+10
8	Essex County	216	+1
9	Morris County	214	-13
10	Hunterdon County	210	-7
10	Union County	210	-23
12	Middlesex County	209	-51
13	Bergen County	207	-11
14	Monmouth County	108	-138
15	Warren County	99	-7
16	Ocean County	89	-47
17	Salem County	64	-14
18	Passaic County	61	-105
19	Gloucester County	6	-61

Other periods

1983
1982
1981
1980

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. 1 counties with data in other periods have no value for 1981 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 New Jersey by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1981) [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 Jersey by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1981. 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-jersey-counties?period=1981. 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 Jersey by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1981. 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-jersey-counties?period=1981.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2026) EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI, Counties in New Jersey by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1981 [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-jersey-counties?period=1981 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_new_jersey_1981,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI: Counties in New Jersey by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1981}},
  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-jersey-counties?period=1981. 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 Jersey by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 1981
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-jersey-counties?period=1981
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/new-jersey-counties?period=1981.
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 New Jersey by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

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

Atlantic County, with 268 in 1981, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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

Gloucester County, with 6 in 1981.

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. 1 counties have no value for 1981 and are not ranked.