North Carolina Air Quality by City
North Carolina has 18 cities with an air-quality page, from Charlotte (1,488,249 people) on down. Each page leads with the live AQI, the main pollutant driving it, and a go/no-go for outdoor exercise on the EPA scale.
Cities in North Carolina
| City | Typical AQI (county median, 2025) | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 51 Moderate | 1,488,249 |
| Raleigh | 43 Good | 1,179,118 |
| Winston-Salem | 45 Good | 443,598 |
| Durham | 42 Good | 420,564 |
| Greensboro | 41 Good | 342,060 |
| Fayetteville | 44 Good | 325,349 |
| Concord | No EPA monitor | 299,345 |
| Asheville | 40 Good | 295,184 |
| Wilmington | 41 Good | 285,611 |
| Hickory | 42 Good | 213,375 |
| Gastonia | No EPA monitor | 181,152 |
| Cary | 43 Good | 179,306 |
| High Point | 41 Good | 175,377 |
| Burlington | No EPA monitor | 152,375 |
| Greenville | 37 Good | 127,632 |
| Lake Norman of Catawba | No EPA monitor | 12,494 |
| Fearrington Village | No EPA monitor | 2,356 |
| Ocracoke | 24 Good | 723 |
Our dataset lists 771 places in North Carolina; the 18 above have a page. For a smaller town, the nearest city above is the closest match.