Birmingham vs Leicester
Tree cover and air quality for both, measured the same way: Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km radius from each city centre, and the live US EPA air quality index. Same radius and same index, so the two numbers compare directly.
Birmingham has more tree cover — 17.9% against 16.1%.
Birmingham has cleaner air right now — AQI 6 against 17.
- Tree cover gap
- 1.8 points
- Birmingham is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 11 AQI
- Birmingham is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 5.3K
- Birmingham has more standing.
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
17.9%
16.1%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
6 · Good
17 · Good
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
55.8K
50.5K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
37.7K
43.6K
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
1.2M kg
1.1M kg
Air quality in detail
What each city is breathing
Concentrations in µg/m³, measured at the same moment as the index above. Lower is better in every row. Both are read from nearby ground stations.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
1.5 µg/m³
4.1 µg/m³
The last week, day by day
A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon. The week says whether it was the weather or the place.
| Day | Birmingham | Leicester |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sept | 30 | 42 |
| 23 Sept | 33 | 41 |
| 24 Sept | 32 | 33 |
| 25 Sept | 37 | 38 |
| 26 Sept | 27 | 28 |
| 27 Sept | 32 | 37 |
| 28 Sept | 24 | 23 |
Reading these numbers
What is actually being measured
Tree cover
The share of ground under canopy inside a 2 km radius of each city centre, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It is a measurement of that circle, not of the whole municipality — which is exactly what makes the two comparable, since city boundaries are drawn to wildly different rules around the world. Birmingham leads here at 17.9%.
Air quality index
The live US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations — ground stations where a city has them nearby, and a model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so this is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place: Birmingham reads 6 (good) and Leicester reads 17 (good) right now.
Frequently asked
Birmingham and Leicester, answered
Which has more trees, Birmingham or Leicester?
Birmingham, with roughly 55,841 trees inside its 2 km radius against 50,529. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Birmingham has the denser canopy at 17.9%.
Which has better air quality, Birmingham or Leicester?
Birmingham right now, at AQI 6 against 17 — a gap of 11 points. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day.
How many more trees does each city need?
Birmingham needs about 37,747 more to reach its canopy target, and Leicester about 43,624. The target is the same share of ground for both, so the figures are directly comparable.
Are these two measured the same way?
Yes — that is the point of the page. Identical radius, identical satellite source at 10 m detail, and the same US EPA index for air. Nothing here is adjusted for population, city limits or climate, so the numbers describe the same-sized circle of ground in each place.
Keep going
Other comparisons nearby
- Birmingham vs Dudley40% tree cover · AQI 6Compare
- Birmingham vs Walsall36% tree cover · AQI 6Compare
- Birmingham vs Wolverhampton31% tree cover · AQI 6Compare
- Birmingham vs Coventry31% tree cover · AQI 5Compare
- Birmingham vs Nottingham40% tree cover · AQI 55Compare
- Birmingham vs Burton upon Trent49% tree cover · AQI 17Compare
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