Air quality in United States
Air quality in North Carolina today
Updated
Good: average US AQI 37 across 15 cities in North Carolina Worst now: Charlotte (45); cleanest: Burlington, NC (30).
Live US AQI, PM2.5 and ozone for cities across North Carolina, compared with the United States average.
- Average US AQI
- 37 Good
- United States average
- 48 747 cities
- Most polluted now
- Charlotte AQI 45
- Cleanest now
- Burlington, NC AQI 30
- Cities above 100
- 0
Air quality in North Carolina today
Right now the modelled air quality in North Carolina averages a US AQI of 37 (Good) across the 15 cities we track. By category: 15 Good (of 15).
That is 11 points cleaner than the United States average of 48, ranking 21 of 51 states from cleanest to most polluted.
Charlotte has the worst air at 45 (PM2.5 9.2 µg/m³), and Burlington, NC the cleanest at 30. No tracked city is above 100, so no group needs to change plans.
North Carolina cities by AQI (most polluted first)
| City | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 45 | Good | 9.2 | 13 | 87 |
| Asheboro | 45 | Good | 10.7 | 14 | 86 |
| Wilmington | 40 | Good | 8.2 | 13 | 86 |
| Greenville | 40 | Good | 8.1 | 13 | 86 |
| Jacksonville | 39 | Good | 7.7 | 12 | 86 |
| Concord | 38 | Good | 9 | 13 | 86 |
| Raleigh | 37 | Good | 7.8 | 11 | 83 |
| Cary | 37 | Good | 7.8 | 11 | 83 |
| Durham | 34 | Good | 7.2 | 11 | 84 |
| Fayetteville | 34 | Good | 7.4 | 11 | 84 |
| Wilson | 34 | Good | 7.4 | 11 | 84 |
| Lumberton | 34 | Good | 7.2 | 11 | 85 |
| Hickory | 32 | Good | 8.6 | 13 | 86 |
| Greensboro | 30 | Good | 7.2 | 11 | 81 |
| Burlington | 30 | Good | 7.2 | 11 | 81 |
What the US AQI numbers mean
| US AQI | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0-50 | Good | Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. |
| 51-100 | Moderate | Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 101-150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 151-200 | Unhealthy | Everyone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed. |
| 201-300 | Very Unhealthy | Health alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors. |
| 301-500 | Hazardous | Emergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500. |
Modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) via Open-Meteo, refreshed twice a day; read hour by hour from the forecast.
Cities in North Carolina
- Air quality in Charlotte
- Air quality in Raleigh
- Air quality in Greensboro
- Air quality in Durham
- Air quality in Winston-Salem
- Air quality in Fayetteville
- Air quality in Cary
- Air quality in Wilmington
- Air quality in High Point
- Air quality in Greenville
- Air quality in Concord
- Air quality in Jacksonville
- Air quality in Burlington
- Air quality in Wilson
- Air quality in Hickory
- Air quality in Asheboro
- Air quality in Lumberton
More
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).