Air quality comparison · Germany, 392 km apart
Frankfurt am Main vs Hamburg Air quality index (AQI) today
Frankfurt am Main has cleaner air than Hamburg right now: AQI 61 (Moderate) against 65 (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, Hamburg averaged AQI 64 against 71, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Frankfurt am Main has lost more forest since 2001. Frankfurt am Main has more tree cover.
Germany
AQI 61
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 14.3 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 17:00 local
Germany
AQI 65
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 16.6 µg/m³1.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 17:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Frankfurt am Main61Hamburg65
Head to head
Frankfurt am Main vs Hamburg at a glance
Frankfurt am Main is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Hamburg on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Frankfurt am Main | Hamburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 61 (better) | 65 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 14.3 (better) | 16.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 71 | 64 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 258 ha | 67 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 33.6% (better) | 21.2% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 21.5K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg right now?
Frankfurt am Main has cleaner air than Hamburg right now: AQI 61 (Moderate) against 65 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Hamburg's PM2.5 is about 1.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
Frankfurt am MainHamburg
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).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Hamburg averaged AQI 64 against 71, 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
- Frankfurt am Main2Hamburg5
- Average AQI
- Frankfurt am Main71Hamburg64
- Worst day, AQI
- Frankfurt am Main93Hamburg87
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Frankfurt am Main | Hamburg |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 43 | 36 |
| Nov 5 | 54 | 43 |
| Nov 6 | 65 | 54 |
| Nov 7 | 82 | 58 |
| Nov 8 | 93 | 87 |
| Nov 9 | 83 | 85 |
| Nov 10 | 77 | 83 |
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 Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg 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 Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Frankfurt am Main's air is cleaner than 46% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Hamburg's is cleaner than 42%. Within Germany, that is 61% and 53% of its 71 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Frankfurt am Main
- Beats 46%
- Hamburg
- Beats 42%
More tree cover than…
- Frankfurt am Main
- Beats 75%
- Hamburg
- Beats 49%
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, Frankfurt am Main or Hamburg?
Frankfurt am Main has lost more: about 258 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 67 ha around Hamburg. 69 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: 2010, with 32 ha lost.
Worst year: 2019, with 9 ha lost.
| Frankfurt am Main | Hamburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 258 ha | 67 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 2.5% | 1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 69 ha | 51 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (68%) | Towns and roads (74%) |
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.
Frankfurt am Main
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Hamburg
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Frankfurt am Main or Hamburg?
Frankfurt am Main has more tree cover: 33.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 21.2% around Hamburg, or about 100,280 trees against 51,683.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Frankfurt am Main | Hamburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 100K (better) | 51.7K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 21.5K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.2M kg (better) | 1.1M 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
Frankfurt am Main vs Hamburg: your questions answered
Is Frankfurt am Main cleaner than Hamburg?
On air quality, yes, right now: Frankfurt am Main reads AQI 61 against 65, a gap of 4 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, Hamburg averaged AQI 64 against 71, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Frankfurt am Main reads AQI 61 and Hamburg reads AQI 65.
Which has lost more forest, Frankfurt am Main or Hamburg?
Frankfurt am Main has lost more: about 258 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 67 ha around Hamburg. 69 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Frankfurt am Main or Hamburg?
Frankfurt am Main has more tree cover: 33.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 21.2% around Hamburg, or about 100,280 trees against 51,683. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg need?
Frankfurt am Main needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Hamburg about 21,453 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg 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. Both readings come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Frankfurt am Main vs Hamburg 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 15, 2026 and Aug 14, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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