Counties in Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI)

DeKalb County had the highest share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI) of 25 counties in 1998, at 17.6%. Walker County had the lowest, at 0%. The median was 0%. Source: EPA.

Highest17.6DeKalb County

Lowest0Walker County

Median025 counties

Map of counties, 1998

Under 2.2
2.2 to 12
12 and over
No data

%, 1998. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: Invokely calculation with data from EPA. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 1998

%. Source: Invokely calculation with data from EPA. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	1998 (%)	Change on 1997
1	DeKalb County	17.6	+11.7 pts
2	Shelby County	16.6	+2.8 pts
3	Jefferson County	15.1	+5 pts
4	Clay County	14.6	+5.3 pts
5	Lawrence County	13.5	+3.2 pts
6	Madison County	12.1	+6.9 pts
7	Mobile County	9.7	+4.5 pts
8	Elmore County	9.5	+7.9 pts
9	Montgomery County	8.5	+7.9 pts
10	Geneva County	3.9	+2 pts
11	Sumter County	1	+1 pts
12	Calhoun County	0	0 pts
12	Colbert County	0	0 pts
12	Escambia County	0	0 pts
12	Etowah County	0	0 pts
12	Franklin County	0	0 pts
12	Houston County	0	0 pts
12	Limestone County	0	0 pts
12	Marengo County	0	0 pts
12	Morgan County	0	0 pts
12	Pike County	0	0 pts
12	Russell County	0	0 pts
12	Talladega County	0	0 pts
12	Tuscaloosa County	0	0 pts
12	Walker County	0	0 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Days with a daily Air Quality Index above 100 (unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy or hazardous) as a percentage of the days of the year with an AQI in a US county. Calculated by Invokely from the day counts in the EPA AirData annual summaries; the counts are stored with each value.

Use the share rather than the number of days to compare counties, since the days with an AQI differ. 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. 6 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: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts. 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: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts (Counties in Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI), 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: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts, Counties in Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI), 1998. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 July 2026, https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unhealthy-air-quality-days-share/alabama-counties?period=1998. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2026. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts. Counties in Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI), 1998. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unhealthy-air-quality-days-share/alabama-counties?period=1998.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2026) EPA AirData annual AQI by county: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts, Counties in Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI), 1998 [Dataset]. Available at: https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html#Annual, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unhealthy-air-quality-days-share/alabama-counties?period=1998 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{environmental_counties_in_alabama_by_1998,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA AirData annual AQI by county: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts: Counties in Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI), 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/unhealthy-air-quality-days-share/alabama-counties?period=1998. Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System, AirData. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts. 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: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts: Counties in Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI), 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/unhealthy-air-quality-days-share/alabama-counties?period=1998
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unhealthy-air-quality-days-share/alabama-counties?period=1998.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System, AirData. EPA AirData annual AQI by county: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts. 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/unhealthy-air-quality-days-share/alabama-counties?period=1998" width="760" height="500" title="Counties in Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI), 1998, 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 Alabama by share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI) using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"aqi_unhealthy_sensitive_or_worse_days_share","level":"province","within":"Alabama","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=aqi_unhealthy_sensitive_or_worse_days_share&level=province&within=Alabama&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 share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI)?

DeKalb County, with 17.6% in 1998, according to EPA.

Which county has the lowest share of days unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse (US EPA AQI)?

Walker County, with 0% 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: days with an AQI above 100 as a share of days with an AQI, calculated with stored counts. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 6 counties have no value for 1998 and are not ranked.