What Is the Air Quality in Cumberland, North Carolina?
Cumberland, North Carolina has an Air Quality Grade of B (good) with a 5-year median AQI of 44. The dominant pollutant is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), and air quality has been stable over the past decade.
Cumberland, North Carolina Air Quality Snapshot
| Air Quality Grade | B65/100 |
| 5-Year Median AQI | 44 (Good) |
| Most Recent Median AQI (2023) | 48 (Good) |
| Dominant Pollutant | Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) |
| 10-Year Trend | Stable (-0.27 AQI/yr) |
| Unhealthy Days (last 5 yr) | 3 |
| National Rank (cleanest = #1) | #707 of 1,020 (69th most polluted percentile) |
| North Carolina Rank | #28 of 37 |
What Does the B Grade Mean?
Cumberland, North Carolina earns a B — air quality is reliably in the safe range for most residents most of the time, with a 5-year median AQI of 44. Sensitive groups will see occasional caution days, but the typical resident will not need to change behavior based on air quality.
Cumberland, North Carolina's 5-year median AQI of 44 is 3 points above the national average of 41 — meaningfully more polluted than the typical U.S. metro tracked here. Within North Carolina, Cumberland, North Carolina runs more polluted than the state average of 41 — local sources or geography are concentrating pollution above the state's typical reading.
For context within North Carolina: Jackson, North Carolina currently holds the state's cleanest grade (A, AQI 35), while Durham, North Carolina sits at the bottom (C, AQI 49).
What's in Cumberland, North Carolina's Air?
The dominant pollutant in Cumberland, North Carolina is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5). Fine particulate matter — particles less than 2.5 micrometers across — comes mostly from combustion: vehicle exhaust, wildfire smoke, residential wood burning, and industrial emissions. Because these particles are small enough to enter the bloodstream, PM2.5 is the pollutant most strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and premature death.
Days by Dominant Pollutant (2023)
| Pollutant | Days as Dominant | Share of Year |
|---|---|---|
| Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) | 241 | 66% |
| Ground-Level Ozone | 122 | 33% |
| Coarse Particulate Matter (PM10) | 2 | 1% |
Is the Air Getting Better or Worse?
Air quality in Cumberland, North Carolina has held roughly steady over the past decade, with year-to-year shifts in median AQI of less than half a point. That stability makes the city's long-run grade a reliable signal of what residents can expect day-to-day.
In 2014, Cumberland, North Carolina posted a median AQI of 49. By 2023 that figure was 48 — a drop of 1 AQI points cleaner across 10 years of EPA records.
Year-by-Year AQI in Cumberland, North Carolina
| Year | Median AQI | Good Days | Unhealthy Days | Dominant Pollutant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 49 | 170 | 0 | PM2.5 |
| 2015 | 45 | 205 | 0 | PM2.5 |
| 2016 | 46 | 217 | 0 | PM2.5 |
| 2017 | 48 | 199 | 0 | PM2.5 |
| 2018 | 42 | 240 | 0 | PM2.5 |
| 2019 | 44 | 236 | 0 | PM2.5 |
| 2020 | 39 | 280 | 0 | PM2.5 |
| 2021 | 44 | 227 | 1 | PM2.5 |
| 2022 | 45 | 231 | 1 | PM2.5 |
| 2023 | 48 | 201 | 1 | PM2.5 |
Health Context for Cumberland, North Carolina
Across the past five years, this area has logged just 3 days where AQI rose into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or worse — about 1 days per year, or roughly one every other month. That is a low count by national standards.
For most healthy adults, current air quality in this area does not require any change in behavior. People with severe asthma, COPD, or recent cardiac events should still keep an eye on daily AQI alerts, especially during wildfire season. Because PM2.5 penetrates deep into the lungs and bloodstream, an N95 or KN95 mask provides meaningful protection on smoky or high-particulate days — surgical masks do not.
How This Grade Is Calculated
The AirHistory Air Quality Grade combines four signals: the 5-year median AQI (40% of the score), the 10-year trend direction (30%), the count of unhealthy days per year (20%), and the dominant pollutant type (10%). All four come directly from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), which aggregates readings from federally certified monitors. Read the full methodology.
Cumberland, North Carolina has an Air Quality Grade of B (good) with a 5-year median AQI of 44. The dominant pollutant is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), and air quality has been stable over the past decade.
This answer pulls from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), the authoritative federal source for U.S. air quality and pollution monitoring. The headline number above is the direct answer; what follows is the additional context most readers need to use the answer for a real decision rather than just a fact lookup.
A practical caveat: the headline answer above reflects the most recent the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) vintage; underlying data is often revised for months after first publication, and the right reference for any specific decision is whichever vintage is current at the time of the decision. The as-of date is stamped on every page.
Source: EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data, 2026.