Air quality in United States
Air quality in Virginia today
Updated
Moderate: average US AQI 51 across 11 cities in Virginia Worst now: Arlington, VA (66); cleanest: Richmond (41).
Live US AQI, PM2.5 and ozone for cities across Virginia, compared with the United States average.
- Average US AQI
- 51 Moderate
- United States average
- 49 619 cities
- Most polluted now
- Arlington, VA AQI 66
- Cleanest now
- Richmond AQI 41
- Cities above 100
- 0
Air quality in Virginia today
Right now the modelled air quality in Virginia averages a US AQI of 51 (Moderate) across the 11 cities we track. By category: 7 Good, 4 Moderate (of 11).
That is close to the United States average of 49, ranking 35 of 51 states from cleanest to most polluted.
Arlington, VA has the worst air at 66 (PM2.5 17 µg/m³), and Richmond the cleanest at 41. No tracked city is above 100, so no group needs to change plans.
Virginia cities by AQI (most polluted first)
| City | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington | 66 | Moderate | 16.6 | 21 | 103 |
| Alexandria | 66 | Moderate | 16.6 | 21 | 103 |
| Manassas | 66 | Moderate | 12.9 | 17 | 101 |
| Harrisonburg | 55 | Moderate | 7.1 | 10 | 90 |
| Virginia Beach | 50 | Good | 12.8 | 18 | 101 |
| Charlottesville | 50 | Good | 7.3 | 11 | 89 |
| Norfolk | 43 | Good | 8.8 | 12 | 99 |
| Chesapeake | 43 | Good | 8.8 | 12 | 99 |
| Portsmouth | 43 | Good | 8.8 | 12 | 99 |
| Suffolk | 43 | Good | 8.8 | 12 | 99 |
| Richmond | 41 | Good | 7.5 | 10 | 93 |
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 Virginia
- Air quality in Virginia Beach
- Air quality in Norfolk
- Air quality in Chesapeake
- Air quality in Richmond
- Air quality in Arlington
- Air quality in Newport News
- Air quality in Alexandria
- Air quality in East Hampton
- Air quality in Hampton
- Air quality in Roanoke
- Air quality in Portsmouth
- Air quality in Suffolk
- Air quality in Harrisonburg
- Air quality in Charlottesville
- Air quality in Manassas
- Air quality in Petersburg
- Air quality in Springfield
- Air quality in Winchester
- Air quality in Salem
- Air quality in Chester
More
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).