Country comparison · 365 cities measured
United States vs Venezuela Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
United States has cleaner air than Venezuela right now: its cities average AQI 38 against 39.
United States has lost more forest since 2001. Venezuela has more tree cover in its cities.
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)
Average of 57 cities
AQI 39
Good
Cleaner on average
- Tree cover
- 27.3%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2.66 million ha
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
United States38Venezuela39
Head to head
United States vs Venezuela at a glance
Venezuela is ahead on 4 of 5 measures, and United States on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| United States | Venezuela | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 38 (better) | 39 |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 0% | 0% (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 126 million acres (51 million ha) | 2.66 million ha (better) |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 18% | 4.7% (better) |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 25.1% | 27.3% (better) |
Air quality today
Is United States cleaner than Venezuela?
On air quality, yes, right now. United States has cleaner air than Venezuela right now: its cities average AQI 38 against 39.
0% of the measured cities in the United States are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 0% in Venezuela.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
United States
- Good200 (65%)
- Moderate107 (35%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups1 (0%)
Venezuela
- Good37 (65%)
- Moderate20 (35%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do United States and Venezuela compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of the United States average cleaner air than 73% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of Venezuela than 69%.
Cleaner air than…
- United States
- Beats 73%
- Venezuela
- Beats 69%
More tree cover than…
- United States
- Beats 52%
- Venezuela
- Beats 60%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, United States or Venezuela?
United States has lost more: about 126 million acres (51 million ha) of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 2.66 million ha in Venezuela, or 19 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: 2004, with 6.77 million acres (2.74 million ha) lost.
Worst year: 2016, with 209,000 ha lost.
| United States | Venezuela | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 126 million acres (51 million ha) | 2.66 million ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 18% | 4.7% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 9.87 million acres (4 million ha) | 1.92 million ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Holding steady | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Logging (62%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (70%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, United States or Venezuela?
Venezuela does: its measured cities average 27.3% tree cover against 25.1%, a gap of 2.2 percentage points.
| United States | Venezuela | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 23.3M (better) | 4.7M |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 64% | 60% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 8.2M | 1.1M (better) |
Behind the averages
The cities behind United States and Venezuela
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
Venezuela
- Greenest measured city
- Puerto Ayacucho66.8% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- AcariguaAQI 72
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: 308 in the United States and 57 in Venezuela, 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 57, so its average is the steadier of the two. Forest figures come from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
Frequently asked
United States vs Venezuela: your questions answered
Is United States cleaner than Venezuela?
On air quality, yes, right now: United States's cities average AQI 38 against 39 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, United States or Venezuela?
United States has lost more: about 126 million acres (51 million ha) of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 2.66 million ha in Venezuela, or 19 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, United States or Venezuela?
Venezuela does: its measured cities average 27.3% tree cover against 25.1%, a gap of 2.2 percentage points.
How many cities are the United States and Venezuela figures based on?
308 measured cities in the United States and 57 in Venezuela. 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 the United States and Venezuela?
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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