Mitchell County, North Carolina air quality history

Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Mitchell, North Carolina, 1990–2025.

82%

Good days in 2025

Median daily AQI, 2025

Days above 100 in 2025

357

Days with an AQI in 2025 (of 365)

In 2025, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Mitchell, North Carolina on 357 days. 291 of those days (82%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 31. That median is lower than the typical monitored county in North Carolina (median 39 across 33 counties), and lower than the typical monitored U.S. county (40). The main pollutant was fine particles (PM2.5) on 357 days. Across the years with fuller monitoring, the share of Good days rose: an average of 26% in 2000–2002 versus 82% in 2023–2025.

Years with fewer than 120 monitored days (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 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, 2025

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)	357	100%

Year-by-year data

Annual AQI summary by year
Year	Days with AQI	Good	Moderate	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Unhealthy	Median AQI	90th pct.	Max AQI	Main pollutant
2025	357	291	65	1	0	31	54	102	PM2.5
2024	341	288	53	0	0	31	53	93	PM2.5
2023	353	281	71	1	0	33	55	104	PM2.5
2022	346	298	48	0	0	31	53	69	PM2.5
2021	356	296	60	0	0	31	53	82	PM2.5
2020	356	328	27	1	0	26	48	103	PM2.5
2019	333	290	43	0	0	29	52	63	PM2.5
2018	355	287	68	0	0	27	54	80	PM2.5
2017	338	266	72	0	0	34	55	93	PM2.5
2016	232	172	56	1	3	37	57	162	PM2.5
2015	120	88	32	0	0	39	56	63	PM2.5
2014	120	79	41	0	0	42	57	69	PM2.5
2013	118	76	42	0	0	42	61	71	PM2.5
2012	118	74	44	0	0	44	57	71	PM2.5
2011	117	57	60	0	0	51	60	78	PM2.5
2010	121	53	68	0	0	52	63	70	PM2.5
2009	112	60	52	0	0	48	63	71	PM2.5
2008	119	57	62	0	0	52	63	82	PM2.5
2007	119	39	78	0	2	55	78	155	PM2.5
2006	120	44	76	0	0	55	74	96	PM2.5
2005	118	36	82	0	0	57	79	99	PM2.5
2004	121	38	83	0	0	56	75	95	PM2.5
2003	115	43	71	1	0	57	72	104	PM2.5
2002	120	32	87	1	0	57	77	107	PM2.5
2001	122	41	80	1	0	56	80	106	PM2.5
2000	120	23	92	4	1	61	88	154	PM2.5
1999	116	33	82	1	0	60	83	107	PM2.5
1998	58	58	0	0	0	22	41	46	PM10
1997	56	54	2	0	0	25	38	52	PM10
1996	61	57	4	0	0	29	44	60	PM10
1995	58	56	2	0	0	31	46	60	PM10
1994	57	57	0	0	0	25	44	49	PM10
1993	50	49	1	0	0	25	44	59	PM10
1992	53	52	1	0	0	22	39	51	PM10
1991	55	51	4	0	0	25	48	77	PM10
1990	13	13	0	0	0	20	29	31	PM10

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 2025

All monitored counties in North Carolina

Source: U.S. EPA AirData, “Annual AQI by County” files for 1990–2025 (EPA download page). EPA file dates: 2026-06-26. Imported into EnviroNearby November 5, 2026. How we use this data · Report a problem