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

Fairfax County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 44 counties in 1995, at 218. Isle of Wight County had the lowest, at 25. The median was 97. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Highest218Fairfax County

Lowest25Isle of Wight County

Median9744 counties

Map of counties, 1995

Under 44
44 to 51
51 to 97
97 to 170
170 to 190
190 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	Fairfax County	218	+18
2	Arlington County	213	+8
3	Alexandria city	208	+31
3	Prince William County	208	+58
5	Hanover County	203	-10
6	Henrico County	201	+1
7	Suffolk city	200	-2
8	Chesterfield County	192	+31
9	Stafford County	185	+24
10	Giles County	172	+6
10	Prince Edward County	172	+11
12	Charles City County	169	+13
12	Henry County	169	+18
12	Madison County	169	+8
15	Frederick County	166	-3
16	Caroline County	164	+13
17	Wythe County	161	-13
18	Roanoke County	154	-18
19	Fauquier County	151	-31
19	Hampton city	151	-28
21	Rockbridge County	139	+44
22	Richmond city	107	+27
23	Norfolk city	86	-9
24	Roanoke city	72	-1
25	Martinsville city	57	+3
25	Smyth County	57	+13
27	Bristol city	55	+9
28	Charlottesville city	52	+15
28	Wise County	52	-2
30	Carroll County	51	+11
30	Lynchburg city	51	+4
32	Culpeper County	49	+8
32	Fredericksburg city	49	+11
34	Covington city	48	+3
35	Winchester city	46	-6
36	Warren County	45	-106
37	Tazewell County	44	n/a
38	King William County	43	+2
38	Loudoun County	43	-5
40	Northumberland County	42	-2
41	Newport News city	39	-2
42	Chesapeake city	37	-9
43	York County	27	-11
44	Isle of Wight County	25	-16

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. 16 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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/virginia-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 Virginia 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/virginia-counties?period=1995.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2026) EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI, Counties in Virginia 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/virginia-counties?period=1995 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_virginia_by_1995,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA AirData annual AQI by county: highest daily AQI: Counties in Virginia 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/virginia-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 Virginia 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/virginia-counties?period=1995
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/virginia-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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Questions

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

Fairfax County, with 218 in 1995, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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

Isle of Wight County, with 25 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. 16 counties have no value for 1995 and are not ranked.