Rockingham County, Virginia air quality history

Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Rockingham, Virginia, 1997–2025.

80%

Good days in 2025

Median daily AQI, 2025

Days above 100 in 2025

365

Days with an AQI in 2025 (of 365)

In 2025, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Rockingham, Virginia on 365 days. 292 of those days (80%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 39. That median is about the same as the typical monitored county in Virginia (median 37 across 25 counties), and about the same as the typical monitored U.S. county (40). The main pollutant was fine particles (PM2.5) on 192 days. Across the years with fuller monitoring, the share of Good days fell: an average of 98% in 2003–2005 versus 82% in 2023–2025.

Years with fewer than 120 monitored days (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) 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)	192	53%
Ozone	154	42%
Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)	19	5%

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	365	292	73	0	0	39	56	80	PM2.5
2024	366	283	83	0	0	42	56	83	PM2.5
2023	365	322	40	2	1	37	53	168	Ozone
2022	365	332	33	0	0	34	49	74	Ozone
2021	363	316	47	0	0	36	52	87	Ozone
2020	363	344	19	0	0	33	46	77	Ozone
2019	365	333	32	0	0	38	50	69	Ozone
2018	365	324	41	0	0	33	51	82	Ozone
2017	365	324	41	0	0	37	51	87	Ozone
2016	366	320	45	1	0	34	53	108	Ozone
2015	361	306	55	0	0	36	55	90	Ozone
2014	361	300	61	0	0	37	54	88	Ozone
2013	365	304	61	0	0	37	53	79	Ozone
2012	346	252	92	2	0	39	61	115	Ozone
2011	365	272	91	2	0	38	64	112	Ozone
2010	362	241	119	2	0	43	67	129	Ozone
2009	363	284	78	1	0	37	58	109	Ozone
2008	362	265	96	1	0	40	64	101	Ozone
2007	361	229	128	4	0	44	74	136	Ozone
2006	316	315	1	0	0	25	36	55	NO2
2005	365	364	1	0	0	27	39	51	NO2
2004	275	275	0	0	0	26	37	47	NO2
2003	129	123	6	0	0	30	45	72	NO2
2002	60	60	0	0	0	19	33	44	PM10
2001	60	59	1	0	0	19	35	53	PM10
2000	60	58	2	0	0	21	39	54	PM10
1999	57	57	0	0	0	21	35	45	PM10
1998	50	48	2	0	0	26	41	56	PM10
1997	19	18	1	0	0	27	50	54	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 Virginia with a similar median AQI in 2025

All monitored counties in Virginia

Source: U.S. EPA AirData, “Annual AQI by County” files for 1997–2025 (EPA download page). EPA file dates: 2026-06-26. Imported into EnviroNearby November 5, 2026. How we use this data · Report a problem