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Air quality in North Carolina

EPA monitors report from 36 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. That is the honest limit of this page: the other 64 are not measured, not clean. In 2025 the most affected monitored county was New Hanover County, with 2 days above the moderate category.

36
Counties with monitors
64
Counties without
3
Days above moderate, 2025
Summed across monitored counties
10.8%
Adults with asthma
Population-weighted county estimate

County by county

Monitored North Carolina counties

GoodModerateUnhealthy for sensitive groupsUnhealthyVery unhealthyHazardous
County90th %ile AQIAbove moderateMax AQI2025 days by category
New Hanover County552121
Mitchell County541102
Alexander County49080
Avery County49090
Buncombe County57097
Caldwell County46077
Carteret County46080
Caswell County47077
Catawba County58088
Cumberland County57074
Davidson County61093
Durham County57077
Edgecombe County53068
Forsyth County630100
Graham County51097
Granville County49087
Guilford County56077
Haywood County51087
Hyde County44059
Jackson County56073
Johnston County56084
Lenoir County47071
Lincoln County51087
Macon County44097
Martin County41050
Mecklenburg County63097
Montgomery County53085
Northampton County55079
Person County47074
Pitt County52071
Rockingham County47074
Rowan County57088
Swain County54087
Union County50090
Wake County58076
Yancey County58084

EPA Air Quality System annual summaries by county, 2025. The 90th percentile AQI describes a day worse than nine out of ten, which is a steadier measure than the annual maximum a single wildfire can set.

Not measured

64 counties without a monitor

No EPA monitor reported from these counties, so there is no air quality record to publish. Their radon zone is known, and radon is measured in the building rather than the air outside it.

Other states

Air quality elsewhere