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

Blount County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 33 counties in 1995, at 216. Giles County had the lowest, at 21. The median was 164. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Highest216Blount County

Lowest21Giles County

Median16433 counties

Map of counties, 1995

Under 56
56 to 100
100 to 160
160 to 190
190 to 200
200 and over
No data

index, 1995. 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, 1995

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	1995 index	Change on 1994
1	Blount County	216	+12
2	Jefferson County	212	+43
3	Henry County	210	n/a
4	Shelby County	205	+26
5	Sevier County	203	-3
5	Sumner County	203	+3
7	Hamilton County	202	+1
7	Knox County	202	+20
9	Williamson County	200	+53
10	Sullivan County	192	+26
11	Anderson County	187	-3
11	Davidson County	187	0
13	Claiborne County	179	-11
13	Dickson County	179	-3
13	Wilson County	179	+23
16	Dyer County	174	n/a
17	Haywood County	164	-28
18	DeKalb County	147	-30
18	Putnam County	147	n/a
20	Coffee County	140	n/a
21	Rutherford County	136	-23
22	Madison County	112	-78
23	Bradley County	77	-105
24	McMinn County	62	-18
25	Montgomery County	58	+7
26	Roane County	57	-7
26	Union County	57	-2
28	Maury County	55	-99
29	Washington County	53	+2
30	Hamblen County	39	-135
31	Loudon County	33	n/a
32	Benton County	25	n/a
33	Giles County	21	-25

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. 9 counties with data in other periods have no value for 1995 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), 1995) [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), 1995. 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?period=1995. 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), 1995. 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?period=1995.

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), 1995 [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?period=1995 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_tennessee_by_1995,
  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), 1995}},
  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?period=1995. 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), 1995
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?period=1995
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/tennessee-counties?period=1995.
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 Tennessee 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)?

Blount County, with 216 in 1995, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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

Giles County, with 21 in 1995.

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. 9 counties have no value for 1995 and are not ranked.