Cherokee County, South Carolina air quality history
Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Cherokee, South Carolina, 1988–2016.
86%
Good days in 2016
41
Median daily AQI, 2016
1
Days above 100 in 2016
172
Days with an AQI in 2016 (of 366)
In 2016, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Cherokee, South Carolina on 172 days. 148 of those days (86%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 41. That median is about the same as the typical monitored county in South Carolina (median 41 across 20 counties), and about the same as the typical monitored U.S. county (41). The main pollutant was ozone on 172 days. Across the years with fuller monitoring, the share of Good days rose: an average of 68% in 1988–1990 versus 84% in 2014–2016.
EPA did not report an AQI for every day of 2016 here (172 of 366 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 2016; EPA's files for 2017–2025 contain no row for it, which usually means its monitors stopped reporting.
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, 2016
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
Ozone
172
100%
Year-by-year data
Annual AQI summary by year
Year
Days with AQI
Good
Moderate
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Unhealthy
Very Unhealthy
Hazardous
Median AQI
90th pct.
Max AQI
Main pollutant
2016
172
148
23
1
0
0
0
41
54
101
Ozone
2015
318
276
42
0
0
0
0
37
58
87
Ozone
2014
223
179
43
1
0
0
0
42
61
105
Ozone
2013
242
209
32
1
0
0
0
40
54
101
Ozone
2012
195
127
62
6
0
0
0
47
80
122
Ozone
2011
259
182
69
7
1
0
0
46
74
159
Ozone
2010
342
270
68
4
0
0
0
40
71
126
Ozone
2009
352
339
13
0
0
0
0
33
45
67
Ozone
2008
352
268
72
10
1
1
0
41
74
209
Ozone
2007
362
309
52
1
0
0
0
39
58
112
Ozone
2006
360
272
79
8
1
0
0
40
74
161
Ozone
2005
359
279
64
16
0
0
0
39
80
140
Ozone
2004
362
325
35
2
0
0
0
34
51
115
Ozone
2003
364
290
61
12
1
0
0
37
74
154
Ozone
2002
362
248
73
31
9
1
0
39
108
202
Ozone
2001
286
189
78
18
1
0
0
44
90
177
Ozone
2000
254
139
74
37
4
0
0
47
115
195
Ozone
1999
287
163
82
34
8
0
0
46
115
195
Ozone
1998
242
111
84
33
14
0
0
54
133
200
Ozone
1997
230
97
80
48
5
0
0
58
126
169
Ozone
1996
235
137
79
17
2
0
0
48
93
166
Ozone
1995
244
142
78
23
1
0
0
47
100
177
Ozone
1994
319
220
79
18
2
0
0
43
90
166
Ozone
1993
361
247
90
21
3
0
0
41
90
166
Ozone
1992
360
269
68
20
3
0
0
39
87
197
Ozone
1991
357
275
69
13
0
0
0
37
77
150
Ozone
1990
340
266
64
10
0
0
0
36
67
129
Ozone
1989
358
262
77
18
1
0
0
39
90
174
Ozone
1988
237
125
61
32
15
4
0
48
147
232
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 South Carolina with a similar median AQI in 2016
