Counties in Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2003

Hamilton County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 30 counties in 2003, at 195. Bradley County had the lowest, at 50. The median was 155. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Highest195Hamilton County

Lowest50Bradley County

Median15530 counties

Map of counties, 2003

Under 100
100 to 140
140 to 160
160 to 170
170 to 180
180 and over
No data

index, 2003. 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, 2003

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2003 index	Change on 2002
1	Hamilton County	195	-12
2	Jefferson County	187	-17
2	Knox County	187	-8
4	Sevier County	182	-20
4	Sullivan County	182	-8
6	Blount County	177	-24
6	Putnam County	177	-8
8	Sumner County	174	+5
9	Shelby County	172	+3
10	Anderson County	169	-33
11	Haywood County	166	-11
12	DeKalb County	159	0
12	Lawrence County	159	0
12	Wilson County	159	-44
15	Williamson County	156	-21
16	Obion County	154	n/a
16	Rutherford County	154	-43
18	Davidson County	150	+10
18	Humphreys County	150	n/a
20	Meigs County	147	-57
21	Claiborne County	126	-59
22	McMinn County	119	+9
23	Montgomery County	108	+10
24	Dyer County	106	+5
25	Union County	104	+8
26	Loudon County	98	n/a
27	Maury County	94	-11
28	Roane County	92	+4
29	Madison County	78	-19
30	Bradley County	50	-23

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. 12 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2003 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 Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2003) [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 Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2003. 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/tennessee-counties. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2026. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI. Counties in Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2003. 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/tennessee-counties.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2026) EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI, Counties in Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2003 [Dataset]. Available at: https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/tennessee-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_tennessee_by_2003,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI: Counties in Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2003}},
  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/tennessee-counties. 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 Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2003
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/tennessee-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/tennessee-counties.
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/tennessee-counties" width="760" height="500" title="Counties in Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA), 2003, 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 Tennessee by highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) using official data, and cite the source.

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

Hamilton County, with 195 in 2003, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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

Bradley County, with 50 in 2003.

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. 12 counties have no value for 2003 and are not ranked.