Lee County, North Carolina air quality history
Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Lee, North Carolina, 2013–2018.
In 2018, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Lee, North Carolina on 210 days. 95 of those days (45%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 52. That median is higher than the typical monitored county in North Carolina (median 42 across 35 counties), and higher than the typical monitored U.S. county (41). The main pollutant was fine particles (PM2.5) on 134 days.
EPA did not report an AQI for every day of 2018 here (210 of 365 days). Figures describe monitored days only; seasonal monitoring (for example, ozone measured only in warmer months) can make a county look cleaner or dirtier than a full-year record would.
The most recent year with data for this county is 2018; EPA's files for 2019–2025 contain no row for it, which usually means its monitors stopped reporting.
Years with fewer than 120 monitored days (2013) are shown in the table but left out of comparisons and trend statements.
How the days broke down each year
Each bar is one year. The colored segments show the share of monitored days that fell in each AQI category.
- Good
- Moderate
- Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
- Unhealthy
- Very Unhealthy
- Hazardous
Typical and high-end AQI over time
The median is the middle day of the year. The 90th percentile is the level that only the highest 10% of days exceeded.
- Median daily AQI
- 90th-percentile daily AQI
Main pollutant by day, 2018
On each monitored day, the AQI reflects whichever measured pollutant had the highest index. This counts how many days each pollutant set the AQI. A pollutant that was not measured here cannot appear.
| Pollutant | Days as main pollutant | Share of monitored days |
|---|---|---|
| Fine particles (PM2.5) | 134 | 64% |
| Ozone | 76 | 36% |
Year-by-year data
| Year | Days with AQI | Good | Moderate | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | Unhealthy | Very Unhealthy | Hazardous | Median AQI | 90th pct. | Max AQI | Main pollutant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 210 | 95 | 115 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 63 | 85 | PM2.5 |
| 2017 | 360 | 193 | 167 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 62 | 97 | PM2.5 |
| 2016 | 363 | 194 | 169 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 61 | 100 | PM2.5 |
| 2015 | 364 | 179 | 185 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 64 | 94 | PM2.5 |
| 2014 | 365 | 175 | 189 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 63 | 108 | PM2.5 |
| 2013 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 37 | 41 | Ozone |
What this data can and can’t tell you
It is a county-level summary. EPA reports one AQI per day for the county, based on the monitors operating there. Air at a particular street, school or home can differ, especially near roads, industry or wildfire smoke.
It is not a health assessment. The AQI is EPA’s scale for communicating daily air quality. A county’s history can’t tell you what the health risk is for any particular person. For daily conditions and health guidance, see AirNow.
Rules change over time. EPA has revised AQI breakpoints, most recently for fine particles in 2024, so some year-to-year change can reflect the scale rather than the air.
Counties in North Carolina with a similar median AQI in 2018
All monitored counties in North Carolina
Source: U.S. EPA AirData, “Annual AQI by County” files for 2013–2018 (EPA download page). EPA file dates: 2026-06-26. Imported into EnviroNearby November 5, 2026. How we use this data · Report a problem