What Is the Air Quality in Fairbanks North Star, Alaska?
Fairbanks North Star, Alaska has an Air Quality Grade of C (fair) with a 5-year median AQI of 42. The dominant pollutant is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), and air quality has been improving over the past decade.
Fairbanks North Star, Alaska Air Quality Snapshot
| Air Quality Grade | C59/100 |
| 5-Year Median AQI | 42 (Good) |
| Most Recent Median AQI (2023) | 41 (Good) |
| Dominant Pollutant | Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) |
| 10-Year Trend | Improving (-1.74 AQI/yr) |
| Unhealthy Days (last 5 yr) | 189 |
| National Rank (cleanest = #1) | #591 of 1,020 (58th most polluted percentile) |
| Alaska Rank | #8 of 8 |
What Does the C Grade Mean?
Fairbanks North Star, Alaska earns a C — air quality is fair, but not great. With a 5-year median AQI of 42, the city sees a meaningful number of "Moderate" days each year, when the EPA flags air as a concern for unusually sensitive people.
Fairbanks North Star, Alaska's 5-year median AQI of 42 is right around the national average of 41 across the 1,020 monitored U.S. cities tracked here. Within Alaska, Fairbanks North Star, Alaska runs more polluted than the state average of 21 — local sources or geography are concentrating pollution above the state's typical reading.
For context within Alaska: Matanuska-Susitna, Alaska currently holds the state's cleanest grade (A, AQI 17), while Denali, Alaska sits at the bottom (B, AQI 34).
What's in Fairbanks North Star, Alaska's Air?
The dominant pollutant in Fairbanks North Star, Alaska 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) | 229 | 63% |
| Ground-Level Ozone | 135 | 37% |
| Coarse Particulate Matter (PM10) | 1 | 0% |
Is the Air Getting Better or Worse?
Air quality in Fairbanks North Star, Alaska has been improving over the past decade, with median AQI dropping by roughly 1.7 points per year. That is consistent with the broader national pattern — most U.S. metros have seen steady reductions in particulate and ozone pollution since the 2010s as cleaner vehicles and power plants come online.
In 2014, Fairbanks North Star, Alaska posted a median AQI of 57. By 2023 that figure was 41 — a drop of 16 AQI points cleaner across 10 years of EPA records.
Year-by-Year AQI in Fairbanks North Star, Alaska
| Year | Median AQI | Good Days | Unhealthy Days | Dominant Pollutant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 57 | 154 | 81 | PM2.5 |
| 2015 | 59 | 124 | 63 | PM2.5 |
| 2016 | 46 | 197 | 56 | PM2.5 |
| 2017 | 44 | 212 | 45 | PM2.5 |
| 2018 | 40 | 215 | 39 | PM2.5 |
| 2019 | 44 | 205 | 39 | PM2.5 |
| 2020 | 39 | 231 | 37 | PM2.5 |
| 2021 | 42 | 211 | 34 | PM2.5 |
| 2022 | 43 | 213 | 47 | PM2.5 |
| 2023 | 41 | 224 | 32 | PM2.5 |
Health Context for Fairbanks North Star, Alaska
Across the past five years, this area has logged 189 days where AQI rose into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or worse — about 38 days per year, or roughly one every five to seven days. That is well above the national norm and explains the C grade.
Healthy adults can continue normal outdoor activity in most weather, but should pay attention to AQI alerts during the worst pollution windows. People with asthma, heart disease, or pregnancy should reduce prolonged or intense outdoor exertion on flagged days, and consider running an indoor HEPA air cleaner during peak 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.
Fairbanks North Star, Alaska has an Air Quality Grade of C (fair) with a 5-year median AQI of 42. The dominant pollutant is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), and air quality has been improving 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.
For readers turning this answer into action: cross-reference against the underlying the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) record before acting on time-sensitive decisions. The site renders the data as it was published; subsequent revisions can shift the picture, and the live federal data is always the authoritative current reference.
Source: EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data, 2026.