Salem City, Virginia air quality history

Daily Air Quality Index summaries from EPA monitors in Salem City, Virginia, 1980–2025.

72%

Good days in 2023

Median daily AQI, 2023

Days above 100 in 2023

120

Days with an AQI in 2023 (of 365)

In 2023, EPA reported a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Salem City, Virginia on 120 days. 87 of those days (72%) were in the Good range, and the median daily AQI was 36. That median is lower than the typical monitored county in Virginia (median 40 across 26 counties), and lower than the typical monitored U.S. county (43). The main pollutant was fine particles (PM2.5) on 120 days. Across the years with fuller monitoring, the share of Good days fell: an average of 83% in 1980–1982 versus 78% in 2021–2023.

EPA did not report an AQI for every day of 2023 here (120 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.

Years with fewer than 120 monitored days (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024, 2025…) 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, 2023

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)	120	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	113	90	23	0	0	31	54	76	PM2.5
2024	119	99	20	0	0	32	52	67	PM2.5
2023	120	87	32	1	0	36	61	146	PM2.5
2022	121	98	23	0	0	33	54	66	PM2.5
2021	120	95	25	0	0	35	55	91	PM2.5
2020	110	94	16	0	0	31	53	69	PM2.5
2019	118	90	28	0	0	34	54	65	PM2.5
2018	113	88	25	0	0	35	56	75	PM2.5
2017	112	81	31	0	0	37	55	69	PM2.5
2016	114	77	37	0	0	41	56	70	PM2.5
2015	118	74	44	0	0	42	60	92	PM2.5
2014	120	70	50	0	0	43	59	67	PM2.5
2013	108	61	47	0	0	47	59	82	PM2.5
2012	110	61	49	0	0	47	61	68	PM2.5
2011	112	51	61	0	0	51	66	78	PM2.5
2010	119	52	67	0	0	52	64	80	PM2.5
2009	121	58	63	0	0	51	65	74	PM2.5
2008	20	10	10	0	0	53	60	71	PM2.5
2006	23	6	17	0	0	57	69	75	PM2.5
2005	119	23	93	3	0	61	90	111	PM2.5
2004	118	34	83	1	0	60	81	103	PM2.5
2003	116	35	80	1	0	59	78	115	PM2.5
2002	119	30	86	3	0	59	83	114	PM2.5
2001	115	33	80	2	0	58	87	144	PM2.5
2000	117	21	92	4	0	61	86	121	PM2.5
1999	87	26	61	0	0	58	83	97	PM2.5
1987	33	33	0	0	0	9	18	24	CO
1986	357	357	0	0	0	8	18	41	CO
1985	359	358	1	0	0	10	19	52	CO
1984	362	362	0	0	0	11	23	49	CO
1983	357	357	0	0	0	11	24	39	CO
1982	355	349	6	0	0	15	31	74	CO
1981	349	265	61	19	4	32	90	197	Ozone
1980	359	269	56	32	2	31	100	169	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.

All monitored counties in Virginia

Source: U.S. EPA AirData, “Annual AQI by County” files for 1980–2025 (EPA download page). EPA file dates: 2026-06-26. Imported into EnviroNearby November 5, 2026. How we use this data · Report a problem