Air quality comparison · Tanzania, 479 km apart
Arusha vs Dar es Salaam Air quality index (AQI) today
Dar es Salaam has cleaner air than Arusha right now: AQI 37 (Good) against 67 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Arusha averaged AQI 41 against 52, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Arusha has lost more forest since 2001. Arusha has more tree cover.
Tanzania
AQI 67
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 14.9 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 08:00 local
Tanzania
AQI 37
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 6.6 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 21:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Arusha67Dar es Salaam37
Head to head
Arusha vs Dar es Salaam at a glance
Arusha and Dar es Salaam are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Arusha | Dar es Salaam | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 67 | 37 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 14.9 | 6.6 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 41 (better) | 52 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 771 ha | 262 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 31.4% (better) | 7.7% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 70.0K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Arusha and Dar es Salaam right now?
Dar es Salaam has cleaner air than Arusha right now: AQI 37 (Good) against 67 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Dar es Salaam is read from a nearby ground station and Arusha is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
ArushaDar es Salaam
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Arusha: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 225 km, e.g. Ongata Rongai and Ngong. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 225 km, US EPA index.
Dar es Salaam: Ground station · Morroco, Dar es Salaam, 5.1 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Pumzi Salama.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Arusha averaged AQI 41 against 52, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Arusha6Dar es Salaam0
- Average AQI
- Arusha41Dar es Salaam52
- Worst day, AQI
- Arusha50Dar es Salaam57
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Arusha | Dar es Salaam |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 35 | 46 |
| Nov 6 | 32 | 53 |
| Nov 7 | 44 | 51 |
| Nov 8 | 46 | 54 |
| Nov 9 | 50 | 57 |
| Nov 10 | 38 | 51 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Arusha and Dar es Salaam today?
Arusha (AQI 67, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Dar es Salaam (AQI 37, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Arusha
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Dar es Salaam
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Arusha
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Dar es Salaam
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Arusha
- Not needed for most people.
- Dar es Salaam
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Arusha
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Dar es Salaam
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Arusha and Dar es Salaam compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Arusha's air is cleaner than 40% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Dar es Salaam's is cleaner than 72%. Within Tanzania, that is 18% and 79% of its 34 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Arusha
- Beats 40%
- Dar es Salaam
- Beats 72%
More tree cover than…
- Arusha
- Beats 71%
- Dar es Salaam
- Beats 16%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Arusha or Dar es Salaam?
Arusha has lost more: about 771 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 262 ha around Dar es Salaam. 18 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2001, with 202 ha lost.
Worst year: 2006, with 56 ha lost.
| Arusha | Dar es Salaam | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 771 ha | 262 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 19% (better) | 25% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 18 ha (better) | 260 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (96%) | Towns and roads (97%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Arusha
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Dar es Salaam
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Arusha or Dar es Salaam?
Arusha has more tree cover: 31.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 7.7% around Dar es Salaam, or about 98,646 trees against 24,166.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Arusha | Dar es Salaam | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 98.6K (better) | 24.2K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 70.0K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.2M kg (better) | 532K kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Arusha vs Dar es Salaam: your questions answered
Is Dar es Salaam cleaner than Arusha?
On air quality, yes, right now: Dar es Salaam reads AQI 37 against 67, a gap of 30 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Arusha averaged AQI 41 against 52, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Arusha and Dar es Salaam today?
In Arusha, at AQI 67: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Dar es Salaam, at AQI 37: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Arusha or Dar es Salaam?
Arusha has lost more: about 771 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 262 ha around Dar es Salaam. 18 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Arusha or Dar es Salaam?
Arusha has more tree cover: 31.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 7.7% around Dar es Salaam, or about 98,646 trees against 24,166. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Arusha and Dar es Salaam need?
Arusha needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Dar es Salaam about 69,987 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Arusha and Dar es Salaam measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Dar es Salaam is read from a nearby ground station and Arusha is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Arusha vs Dar es Salaam comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 19, 2026 and Sep 6, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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