Side by side · 5,420 places, measured the same way
Air quality comparison Compare the AQI of any two cities or countries
Pick two places to see their live air quality index side by side, with the past week, health advice, tree cover and the forest each has lost.
Build your own
Compare any two places
Right now 37% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks have Good air and 22% are over AQI 100, where it stops being fine for sensitive groups. The widest gap between near neighbors: Kasur and Phool Nagar, 49 km apart, at AQI 805 and 523.
- places measured
- 5,420
- countries
- 241
- ready-made comparisons
- 2,361
- with Good air right now
- 37%
On this page
What people search for
The most compared places
The comparisons people look up most, with today's readings. Lower is cleaner; every bar is on the same scale.
Right now
Near neighbors, very different air
Places under 60 km apart with the widest gaps in air quality today. Air can change that fast over a short distance with traffic, industry and wind, and each comparison says whether its readings come from a ground station or a model.
Country against country
The most measured countries, head to head
Each cell is the row country's average AQI minus the column's, across their measured cities: green where the row country has cleaner air, red where it is dirtier. Pick any cell for the full comparison.
| Row vs column | China | India | United States | Brazil | Japan | Russia | Indonesia | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChinaAQI 115 | — | −43 | +75 | +77 | +67 | +84 | +33 | −215 |
| IndiaAQI 158 | +43 | — | +118 | +120 | +110 | +127 | +76 | −172 |
| United StatesAQI 40 | −75 | −118 | — | +2 | −8 | +9 | −42 | −290 |
| BrazilAQI 38 | −77 | −120 | −2 | — | −10 | +7 | −44 | −292 |
| JapanAQI 48 | −67 | −110 | +8 | +10 | — | +17 | −34 | −282 |
| RussiaAQI 31 | −84 | −127 | −9 | −7 | −17 | — | −51 | −299 |
| IndonesiaAQI 82 | −33 | −76 | +42 | +44 | +34 | +51 | — | −248 |
| PakistanAQI 330 | +215 | +172 | +290 | +292 | +282 | +299 | +248 | — |
Right now
The widest gaps between countries today
Among countries with at least 20 measured cities.
City against city
Big-city rivals and near neighbors
A selection by country. Every measured city's own report links to all of its comparisons.
China6 comparisons
Show 3 more in ChinaShow fewer
India6 comparisons
Show 3 more in IndiaShow fewer
United States6 comparisons
Show 3 more in United StatesShow fewer
Brazil6 comparisons
Show 3 more in BrazilShow fewer
Japan6 comparisons
Show 3 more in JapanShow fewer
Russia6 comparisons
Show 3 more in RussiaShow fewer
Indonesia6 comparisons
Show 3 more in IndonesiaShow fewer
Pakistan6 comparisons
Show 3 more in PakistanShow fewer
More country comparisons
780 in all; each country's own comparison page links to the rest.
- Algeria vs Angola
- Algeria vs Argentina
- Algeria vs Bangladesh
- Algeria vs Brazil
- Algeria vs Canada
- Algeria vs Chile
- Algeria vs China
- Algeria vs Colombia
- Algeria vs Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Algeria vs Egypt
- Algeria vs Ethiopia
- Algeria vs France
- Algeria vs Germany
- Algeria vs India
- Algeria vs Indonesia
- Algeria vs Iran
- Algeria vs Iraq
- Algeria vs Italy
- Algeria vs Japan
- Algeria vs Malaysia
- Algeria vs Mexico
- Algeria vs Morocco
- Algeria vs Myanmar
- Algeria vs Nigeria
- Algeria vs Pakistan
- Algeria vs Philippines
- Algeria vs Poland
- Algeria vs Russia
- Algeria vs South Africa
- Algeria vs South Korea
Reading a comparison
What is a good AQI?
Up to 50 on the US EPA index is Good and 51 to 100 Moderate; above 100 the air stops being fine for sensitive groups. This is the scale every comparison here uses, with how many of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks sit in each band right now.
| AQI | Band | What it means | Places now |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good | Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. | 2,030 (37%) |
| 51–100 | Moderate | Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. | 2,198 (41%) |
| 101–150 | Unhealthy for sensitive groups | Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. | 498 (9%) |
| 151–200 | Unhealthy | Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so. | 519 (10%) |
| 201–300 | Very unhealthy | Health alert — everyone should avoid long outdoor exertion. | 96 (2%) |
| 301+ | Hazardous | Emergency conditions — avoid outdoor activity. | 79 (1%) |
Have a pollutant reading instead? Convert it to the AQI.
Why the comparisons are fair
Every place measured the same way
The same index
The live US EPA air quality index everywhere: a ground station where one is near, the CAMS model elsewhere, and the page says which.
The same circle
Tree cover inside an identical 2 km radius around every city center, read from Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail.
The same forest maps
Forest lost each year since 2001 from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps, for cities and whole countries.
Frequently asked
Comparing air quality, answered
How do I compare the air quality of two cities?
Pick two places in the box at the top of this page. Airleaf opens a side-by-side page with each one's live US AQI, PM2.5, the past week, health advice, tree cover and the forest it has lost, measured the same way for both.
What is a good AQI?
Up to 50 on the US EPA index is Good, and 51 to 100 is Moderate. From 101 to 150 the air is Unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151 to 200 Unhealthy, 201 to 300 Very unhealthy, and above 300 Hazardous. Lower is always cleaner.
Which country has the cleanest air right now?
Norway has the cleanest air right now, averaging AQI 14 across its cities with a live ground-station reading, then Sweden (17) and Mauritius (21). Only countries with at least three such cities are ranked, and a country average describes its measured cities, not its countryside.
Which country has the most polluted air right now?
Pakistan has the most polluted air right now, averaging AQI 301 across its cities with a live ground-station reading, then Bangladesh (199) and Nepal (190). These are live readings, so the order changes with the weather.
Can I compare two countries?
Yes. A country comparison averages every city Airleaf has measured in each country, and shows the ground-station average separately. Its forest figures count the whole country.
Where do the numbers come from?
Air readings come from ground monitoring stations where one has reported recently nearby, and from the CAMS atmospheric model elsewhere; each comparison says which. Tree cover is read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, and forest loss from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
How often are comparisons updated?
Air readings refresh about once an hour, and each comparison shows when its readings were taken. Tree cover follows the latest clear satellite image, and forest figures are published yearly.