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

Blount County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 32 counties in 1997, at 206. Giles County had the lowest, at 20. The median was 164. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Highest206Blount County

Lowest20Giles County

Median16432 counties

Map of counties, 1997

Under 53
53 to 140
140 to 160
160 to 170
170 to 200
200 and over
No data

index, 1997. 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, 1997

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	1997 index	Change on 1996
1	Blount County	206	+45
1	Knox County	206	0
3	Sumner County	205	+3
4	Jefferson County	202	-5
4	Shelby County	202	+12
6	Davidson County	197	-3
6	Sevier County	197	+25
8	Rutherford County	179	+23
8	Wilson County	179	0
10	Williamson County	174	+2
11	Putnam County	172	+118
12	Claiborne County	169	+69
12	Hamilton County	169	-26
12	Sullivan County	169	-16
15	Bradley County	166	+83
15	DeKalb County	166	+10
17	Union County	161	+93
18	Hamblen County	159	n/a
19	Lawrence County	156	n/a
20	Anderson County	151	-23
20	Haywood County	151	-23
22	Humphreys County	133	-28
23	McMinn County	62	-17
24	Roane County	61	+7
25	Maury County	55	+1
26	Henry County	53	-19
26	Loudon County	53	-121
28	Washington County	51	+3
29	Madison County	48	0
30	Montgomery County	46	-12
31	Dickson County	39	-15
32	Giles County	20	-177

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. 10 counties with data in other periods have no value for 1997 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), 1997) [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), 1997. 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=1997. 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), 1997. 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=1997.

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), 1997 [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=1997 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_tennessee_by_1997,
  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), 1997}},
  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=1997. 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), 1997
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=1997
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/tennessee-counties?period=1997.
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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Questions

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

Blount County, with 206 in 1997, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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

Giles County, with 20 in 1997.

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. 10 counties have no value for 1997 and are not ranked.