Air quality comparison · Morocco, 387 km apart
Fes vs Marrakesh Air quality index (AQI) today
Marrakesh has cleaner air than Fes right now: AQI 74 (Moderate) against 82 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Fes averaged AQI 47 against 48, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Fes has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Fes82Marrakesh74
Head to head
Fes vs Marrakesh at a glance
Fes is ahead on 3 of 5 measures, and Marrakesh on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Fes | Marrakesh | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 82 | 74 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 23.8 | 21.2 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 47 (better) | 48 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 8.9% (better) | 8.4% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 66.3K (better) | 67.9K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Fes and Marrakesh right now?
Marrakesh has cleaner air than Fes right now: AQI 74 (Moderate) against 82 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Fes's PM2.5 is about 1.6× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Marrakesh's PM2.5 is about 1.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Marrakesh is read from a nearby ground station and Fes is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
FesMarrakesh
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).
Fes: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Nador and Gibraltar. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index.
Marrakesh: Ground station · Marrakech-Residence Mima, 4 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, campus.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Fes averaged AQI 47 against 48, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Fes4Marrakesh3
- Average AQI
- Fes47Marrakesh48
- Worst day, AQI
- Fes54Marrakesh58
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Fes | Marrakesh |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 50 | 58 |
| Nov 6 | 54 | 50 |
| Nov 7 | 54 | 56 |
| Nov 8 | 42 | 43 |
| Nov 9 | 39 | 36 |
| Nov 10 | 39 | 44 |
| Nov 11 | 54 | 49 |
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 Fes and Marrakesh today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Fes and Marrakesh compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Fes's air is cleaner than 29% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Marrakesh's is cleaner than 34%. Within Morocco, that is 0% and 3% of its 37 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Fes
- Beats 29%
- Marrakesh
- Beats 34%
More tree cover than…
- Fes
- Beats 18%
- Marrakesh
- Beats 17%
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.
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.
Fes
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Marrakesh
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Fes or Marrakesh?
Fes has more tree cover: 8.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 8.4% around Marrakesh, or about 27,960 trees against 26,389.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Fes | Marrakesh | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 28.0K (better) | 26.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 66.3K (better) | 67.9K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 615K kg (better) | 581K 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
Fes vs Marrakesh: your questions answered
Is Marrakesh cleaner than Fes?
On air quality, yes, right now: Marrakesh reads AQI 74 against 82, a gap of 8 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Fes averaged AQI 47 against 48, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Fes and Marrakesh today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Fes reads AQI 82 and Marrakesh reads AQI 74.
Which has more trees, Fes or Marrakesh?
Fes has more tree cover: 8.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 8.4% around Marrakesh, or about 27,960 trees against 26,389. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Fes and Marrakesh need?
Fes needs about 66,288 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Marrakesh about 67,858 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Fes and Marrakesh 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. Marrakesh is read from a nearby ground station and Fes 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 Fes vs Marrakesh 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 17, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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