Air Quality Rankings for Virginia (2026)

Cities Tracked

State Avg AQI

Improving

Worsening

How Virginia Compares

Virginia has 32 cities tracked by EPA air-quality monitors, with a state-wide 5-year median AQI of 33 — 8 points cleaner than the national average of AQI 41. Alexandria City, Virginia ranks #1 with the cleanest air (AQI 6, Grade A), while Fairfax, Virginia sits at the bottom (AQI 47, Grade C). The rankings below are computed from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), which aggregates daily AQI readings from federally certified monitors into annual averages. Cities are sorted by 5-year median AQI (lowest = cleanest = #1). The 5-year window smooths out year-to-year volatility from weather and wildfire events.

Virginia is on an improving trajectory: 23 of 32 monitored cities show measurably cleaner air over the past decade, against just 5 that are getting worse. That mirrors the broader national pattern of falling particulate and ozone pollution as cleaner vehicles, cleaner power generation, and tighter industrial standards take effect.

The dominant pollutant across 16 of 32 Virginia cities is Ground-Level Ozone. Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with vehicle and industrial emissions. It is worst on hot, sunny, stagnant summer days and is the leading air quality concern across much of the Sun Belt and California. Other Virginia cities report Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) (11), Coarse Particulate Matter (PM10) (4), Nitrogen Dioxide (1) as their dominant concern.

The fastest-improving city in Virginia is Alexandria City, Virginia, with median AQI falling by 2.5 points per year. Steady improvement at that pace usually reflects fleet turnover (older diesels retiring), upwind power-plant retirements, or tighter regional emissions controls.

The city with the steepest decline is Richmond City, Virginia, where median AQI is rising by 0.9 points per year. Rapid deterioration in a single city usually points to either wildfire-smoke exposure (in the West) or a new local emissions source — a power plant, port, or freight corridor coming online.

Full Virginia Ranking

#	City	5yr Avg AQI	Current AQI	Worst Pollutant	Trend	Grade
1	Alexandria City, Virginia	6	6	PM10	Improving	A
2	Hopewell City, Virginia	7	7	PM10	Improving	A
3	Winchester City, Virginia	7	6	PM10	Improving	A
4	Carroll, Virginia	8	9	PM10	Stable	A
5	Norfolk City, Virginia	18	18	NO2	Improving	A
6	Lynchburg City, Virginia	31	34	PM2.5	Improving	B
7	Prince Edward, Virginia	33	34	Ozone	Stable	B
8	Salem City, Virginia	34	36	PM2.5	Improving	B
9	Bristol City, Virginia	35	39	PM2.5	Improving	B
10	Rockbridge, Virginia	35	37	Ozone	Improving	B
11	Virginia Beach City, Virginia	35	41	PM2.5	Stable	B
12	Charles, Virginia	35	40	Ozone	Stable	B
13	Fauquier, Virginia	35	39	Ozone	Stable	B
14	Prince William, Virginia	35	37	Ozone	Worsening	C
15	Rockingham, Virginia	36	37	Ozone	Stable	B
16	Stafford, Virginia	36	37	Ozone	Improving	B
17	Caroline, Virginia	37	40	Ozone	Improving	B
18	Loudoun, Virginia	37	39	Ozone	Stable	B
19	Arlington, Virginia	37	38	Ozone	Improving	B
20	Chesterfield, Virginia	38	41	Ozone	Stable	B
21	Giles, Virginia	38	39	Ozone	Stable	B
22	Hanover, Virginia	38	40	Ozone	Stable	B
23	Suffolk City, Virginia	38	40	Ozone	Stable	B
24	Wythe, Virginia	39	40	Ozone	Stable	B
25	Madison, Virginia	40	42	Ozone	Improving	B
26	Hampton City, Virginia	41	43	PM2.5	Stable	C
27	Richmond City, Virginia	42	45	PM2.5	Worsening	C
28	Roanoke, Virginia	42	43	PM2.5	Stable	B
29	Albemarle, Virginia	42	44	PM2.5	Stable	C
30	Frederick, Virginia	42	44	PM2.5	Stable	C
31	Henrico, Virginia	43	46	PM2.5	Stable	C
32	Fairfax, Virginia	47	46	PM2.5	Stable	C

Air quality data for Virginia is sourced from the EPA Air Quality System (AQS), which monitors outdoor air quality at thousands of stations nationwide.
, EPA Air Quality System

Frequently Asked Questions

Alexandria City, Virginia has the best air quality in Virginia with a 5-year average AQI of 6 and a Grade A (96/100). Its dominant pollutant is Coarse Particulate Matter (PM10) and the long-run trend is improving.

Fairfax, Virginia has the worst air quality in Virginia with a 5-year average AQI of 47 and a Grade C (60/100). Its dominant pollutant is Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5).

Virginia has 32 cities with EPA air quality monitoring data, covering 2014-2023 of daily AQI measurements aggregated into annual averages.

Virginia's state-wide 5-year median AQI is 33, 8 points cleaner than the national average of AQI 41. Virginia is on an improving trajectory: 23 of 32 monitored cities show measurably cleaner air over the past decade, against just 5 that are getting worse. That mirrors the broader national pattern of falling particulate and ozone pollution as cleaner vehicles, cleaner power generation, and tighter industrial standards take effect.

Ground-Level Ozone is the dominant pollutant in 16 of 32 monitored Virginia cities. Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with vehicle and industrial emissions. It is worst on hot, sunny, stagnant summer days and is the leading air quality concern across much of the Sun Belt and California.

Virginia cities log an average of 1 days per year at "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" or worse, based on EPA monitor data over the last five years. Across all 32 Virginia cities tracked, that totals 104 unhealthy days over the period.

Sources: EPA Air Quality System (AQS)

Cities ranked by 5-year average AQI (lower is better). Grades factor in average AQI, trend direction, unhealthy days, and dominant pollutant.

Cleanest Cities Nationwide →All Air Quality in Virginia →Worst Air Quality Cities →Methodology →

The this entity category groups every U.S. air quality and pollution monitoring entity sharing this attribute. The list above is the data; the paragraphs below explain what the grouping means against the broader the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) distribution and how to read the relative rankings within the category.

For readers using this category as a starting point, the per-entity detail pages linked from the table above carry the underlying the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) data in full. The category-level view is the filter; the per-entity pages are the actual answer.

Source: EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data, 2026.