What Is the Air Quality in Gilmer, West Virginia?

Gilmer, West Virginia 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 32. Sensitive groups will see occasional caution days, but the typical resident will not need to change behavior based on air quality.

Gilmer, West Virginia's 5-year median AQI of 32 is 9 points below the national average of 41 — meaningfully cleaner than the typical U.S. metro tracked here. Within West Virginia, Gilmer, West Virginia runs cleaner than the state average of 37 — a positive signal that local conditions (terrain, wind patterns, emission sources) are working in residents' favor.

For context within West Virginia: Marion, West Virginia currently holds the state's cleanest grade (B, AQI 38), while Kanawha, West Virginia sits at the bottom (C, AQI 42).

Air quality in Gilmer, West Virginia has been getting worse over the past decade, with median AQI climbing by roughly 0.3 points per year. That bucks the national trend of broad improvement, and most often reflects either growing wildfire smoke exposure (particularly across the West) or rising local emissions from population and freight growth.

In 2014, Gilmer, West Virginia posted a median AQI of 31. By 2022 that figure was 37 — a rise of 6 AQI points dirtier across 9 years of EPA records.

Across the past five years, this area has logged just 0 days where AQI rose into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range or worse — about 0 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 ozone peaks in the afternoon on hot sunny days, plan outdoor exercise for early morning or after sunset on bad-air days.