Country comparison · 405 cities measured
Iran vs United States Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
United States has cleaner air than Iran right now: its cities average AQI 38 against 61.
United States has lost more forest since 2001. United States has more tree cover in its cities.
Average of 97 cities
AQI 61
Moderate
Cleaner on average
- Tree cover
- 5.0%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 4,270 ha
Average of 308 cities
AQI 38
Good
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 40
- Tree cover
- 25.1%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 126 million acres (51 million ha)
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Iran61United States38
Head to head
Iran vs United States at a glance
United States is ahead on 3 of 5 measures, and Iran on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Iran | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 61 | 38 (better) |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 11% | 0% (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 4,270 ha (better) | 126 million acres (51 million ha) |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | under 1% (better) | 18% |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 5.0% | 25.1% (better) |
Air quality today
Is United States cleaner than Iran?
On air quality, yes, right now. United States has cleaner air than Iran right now: its cities average AQI 38 against 61.
11% of the measured cities in Iran are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 0% in the United States.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
Iran
- Good38 (39%)
- Moderate48 (49%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups3 (3%)
- Unhealthy8 (8%)
United States
- Good200 (65%)
- Moderate107 (35%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups1 (0%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do Iran and United States compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of Iran average cleaner air than 37% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of the United States than 73%.
Cleaner air than…
- Iran
- Beats 37%
- United States
- Beats 73%
More tree cover than…
- Iran
- Beats 9%
- United States
- Beats 52%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, Iran or United States?
United States has lost more: about 126 million acres (51 million ha) of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 4,270 ha in Iran, or 11952 times as much. 9.87 million acres (4 million ha) of United States's was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns; the rest burned, was logged or can grow back.
The whole country, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: unlike the city averages above, this counts every forest, not just the land around cities.
Worst year: 2002, with 559 ha lost.
Worst year: 2004, with 6.77 million acres (2.74 million ha) lost.
| Iran | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 4,270 ha (better) | 126 million acres (51 million ha) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | under 1% (better) | 18% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1,370 ha (better) | 9.87 million acres (4 million ha) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Holding steady | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Logging (27%) | Logging (62%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, Iran or United States?
United States does: its measured cities average 25.1% tree cover against 5.0%, a gap of 20.1 percentage points.
| Iran | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 1.5M | 23.3M (better) |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 99% | 64% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 7.8M (better) | 8.2M |
Behind the averages
The cities behind Iran and United States
An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.
United States
- Greenest measured city
- South Fulton71.7% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- StocktonAQI 105
Reading these numbers
What a country average is, and is not
It is a mean of cities
Not a national statistic. Each figure is the average across the cities Airleaf has measured: 97 in Iran and 308 in the United States, each read over the same 2 km radius, on the US EPA index. Rural land and unmeasured towns are not in it.
Coverage shapes the number
A country measured mostly in its capital reads differently from one measured across dozens of towns. United States rests on 308 cities against 97, so its average is the steadier of the two. Forest figures come from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
Frequently asked
Iran vs United States: your questions answered
Is United States cleaner than Iran?
On air quality, yes, right now: United States's cities average AQI 38 against 61 on the US EPA index. These are live readings averaged across cities, so the gap moves with the weather.
Which country has lost more forest, Iran or United States?
United States has lost more: about 126 million acres (51 million ha) of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 4,270 ha in Iran, or 11952 times as much. 9.87 million acres (4 million ha) of United States's was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns; the rest burned, was logged or can grow back.
Which country has more tree cover, Iran or United States?
United States does: its measured cities average 25.1% tree cover against 5.0%, a gap of 20.1 percentage points.
How many cities are the Iran and United States figures based on?
97 measured cities in Iran and 308 in the United States. Every one was read the same way, so the two averages are directly comparable, but a country with more measured cities has the more settled figure.
Does this cover the whole of Iran and the United States?
The air and tree figures are not: they are the cities Airleaf has measured, each over the same 2 km radius, so treat them as a comparison of urban air and urban tree cover. The forest figures are: they count every forest in the country.
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