Air quality comparison · Brazil, 490 km apart
Belo Horizonte vs São Paulo Air quality index (AQI) today
Belo Horizonte has cleaner air than São Paulo right now: AQI 21 (Good) against 55 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Belo Horizonte averaged AQI 38 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Belo Horizonte has lost more forest since 2001. Belo Horizonte has more tree cover.
Brazil
AQI 21
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 4.6 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 17:00 local
Brazil
AQI 55
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 11.1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 13:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Belo Horizonte21São Paulo55
Head to head
Belo Horizonte vs São Paulo at a glance
Belo Horizonte is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and São Paulo on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Belo Horizonte | São Paulo | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 21 (better) | 55 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 4.6 (better) | 11.1 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 38 (better) | 60 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 139 ha | 30 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 14.2% (better) | 10.6% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 49.6K (better) | 59.4K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Belo Horizonte and São Paulo right now?
Belo Horizonte has cleaner air than São Paulo right now: AQI 21 (Good) against 55 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
São Paulo is read from a nearby ground station and Belo Horizonte is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Belo HorizonteSão Paulo
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).
Belo Horizonte: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
São Paulo: Ground station · Parque D.Pedro II, São Paulo, Brazil, 900 m away · median of 6 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, CETESB - Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Belo Horizonte averaged AQI 38 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Belo Horizonte5São Paulo1
- Average AQI
- Belo Horizonte38São Paulo60
- Worst day, AQI
- Belo Horizonte62São Paulo84
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Belo Horizonte | São Paulo |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 55 | 84 |
| Nov 6 | 62 | 74 |
| Nov 7 | 35 | 74 |
| Nov 8 | 43 | 30 |
| Nov 9 | 16 | 44 |
| Nov 10 | 17 | 55 |
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 Belo Horizonte and São Paulo today?
Belo Horizonte (AQI 21, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
São Paulo (AQI 55, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Belo Horizonte
- A good day to be active outside.
- São Paulo
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Belo Horizonte
- Open them to air the house.
- São Paulo
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Belo Horizonte
- Not needed.
- São Paulo
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Belo Horizonte
- Not needed.
- São Paulo
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Belo Horizonte and São Paulo compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Belo Horizonte's air is cleaner than 87% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and São Paulo's is cleaner than 53%. Within Brazil, that is 69% and 16% of its 304 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Belo Horizonte
- Beats 87%
- São Paulo
- Beats 53%
More tree cover than…
- Belo Horizonte
- Beats 32%
- São Paulo
- Beats 23%
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, Belo Horizonte or São Paulo?
Belo Horizonte has lost more: about 139 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 30 ha around São Paulo. 96 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: 2024, with 14 ha lost.
Worst year: 2005, with 11 ha lost.
| Belo Horizonte | São Paulo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 139 ha | 30 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 2.6% (better) | 5.8% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 96 ha | 19 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (56%) | Towns and roads (63%) |
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.
Belo Horizonte
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
São Paulo
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Belo Horizonte or São Paulo?
Belo Horizonte has more tree cover: 14.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.6% around São Paulo, or about 44,611 trees against 32,435.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Belo Horizonte | São Paulo | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 44.6K (better) | 32.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 49.6K (better) | 59.4K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 981K kg (better) | 714K 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
Belo Horizonte vs São Paulo: your questions answered
Is Belo Horizonte cleaner than São Paulo?
On air quality, yes, right now: Belo Horizonte reads AQI 21 against 55, a gap of 34 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Belo Horizonte averaged AQI 38 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Belo Horizonte and São Paulo today?
In Belo Horizonte, at AQI 21: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In São Paulo, at AQI 55: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Belo Horizonte or São Paulo?
Belo Horizonte has lost more: about 139 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 30 ha around São Paulo. 96 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Belo Horizonte or São Paulo?
Belo Horizonte has more tree cover: 14.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.6% around São Paulo, or about 44,611 trees against 32,435. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Belo Horizonte and São Paulo need?
Belo Horizonte needs about 49,637 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and São Paulo about 59,362 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Belo Horizonte and São Paulo 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. São Paulo is read from a nearby ground station and Belo Horizonte 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 Belo Horizonte vs São Paulo 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 (Oct 1, 2026 and Sep 27, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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