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

Charles City County had the highest highest daily Air Quality Index (US EPA) of 41 counties in 1998, at 217. Newport News city had the lowest, at 35. The median was 104. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Highest217Charles City County

Lowest35Newport News city

Median10441 counties

Map of counties, 1998

Under 44
44 to 51
51 to 100
100 to 190
190 to 210
210 and over
No data

index, 1998. 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, 1998

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	1998 index	Change on 1997
1	Charles City County	217	+15
2	Fairfax County	213	0
3	Caroline County	210	+15
3	Henrico County	210	+15
5	Hanover County	209	-10
6	Prince William County	208	+21
7	Roanoke County	206	+50
7	Stafford County	206	+27
9	Madison County	205	+31
10	Chesterfield County	202	+30
10	Loudoun County	202	+169
12	Frederick County	201	+29
13	Fauquier County	197	+23
14	Alexandria city	190	-14
14	Giles County	190	+34
14	Prince Edward County	190	+31
17	Arlington County	185	-36
18	Suffolk city	182	-5
19	Hampton city	179	-16
20	Wythe County	177	+18
21	Rockbridge County	104	-21
22	Norfolk city	100	+22
23	Richmond city	85	-22
24	Roanoke city	61	-19
25	Rockingham County	56	+2
26	Charlottesville city	51	+4
26	Chesapeake city	51	-6
26	Covington city	51	-2
29	Culpeper County	48	-18
29	Fredericksburg city	48	-14
29	King William County	48	-11
29	Winchester city	48	-19
33	Northumberland County	47	-5
34	Warren County	45	-17
35	Carroll County	43	-7
35	Martinsville city	43	-19
37	Wise County	40	-5
38	Bristol city	39	-17
39	Tazewell County	36	-8
40	Lynchburg city	35	-16
40	Newport News city	35	-26

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. 19 counties with data in other periods have no value for 1998 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), 1998) [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), 1998. 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=1998. 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), 1998. 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=1998.

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), 1998 [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=1998 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_virginia_by_1998,
  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), 1998}},
  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=1998. 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), 1998
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=1998
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/highest-daily-air-quality-index/virginia-counties?period=1998.
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 Virginia 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)?

Charles City County, with 217 in 1998, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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

Newport News city, with 35 in 1998.

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. 19 counties have no value for 1998 and are not ranked.