Air quality comparison · Israel, 118 km apart
Haifa vs Jerusalem Air quality index (AQI) today
Jerusalem has cleaner air than Haifa right now: AQI 53 (Moderate) against 58 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Haifa averaged AQI 39 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Haifa has lost more forest since 2001. Haifa has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Haifa58Jerusalem53
Head to head
Haifa vs Jerusalem at a glance
Haifa and Jerusalem are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Haifa | Jerusalem | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 58 | 53 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 12.6 | 10.1 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 39 (better) | 42 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 517 ha | 21 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 19.8% (better) | 12.6% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 25.4K (better) | 54.7K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Haifa and Jerusalem right now?
Jerusalem has cleaner air than Haifa right now: AQI 53 (Moderate) against 58 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
HaifaJerusalem
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).
Haifa: Ground station · Independence of Haifa, Haifa and its surroundings, Israel (ישראל,עצמאות חיפה, חיפה וקריות), 400 m away · median of 5 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Jerusalem: Ground station · Jerusalem, Efrat - the UN, Israel (ישראל,אפרתה -י''ם, ירושלים), 1.3 km away · median of 3 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Haifa averaged AQI 39 against 42, 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
- Haifa4Jerusalem1
- Average AQI
- Haifa39Jerusalem42
- Worst day, AQI
- Haifa50Jerusalem60
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Haifa | Jerusalem |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 50 | 60 |
| Nov 6 | 37 | 45 |
| Nov 7 | 35 | 28 |
| Nov 8 | 33 | 33 |
| Nov 9 | 38 | 43 |
| Nov 10 | 43 | 44 |
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 Haifa and Jerusalem 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 Haifa and Jerusalem compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Haifa's air is cleaner than 50% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Jerusalem's is cleaner than 57%. Within Israel, that is 45% and 82% of its 12 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Haifa
- Beats 50%
- Jerusalem
- Beats 57%
More tree cover than…
- Haifa
- Beats 46%
- Jerusalem
- Beats 28%
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, Haifa or Jerusalem?
Haifa has lost more: about 517 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 21 ha around Jerusalem. 58 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: 2011, with 403 ha lost.
Worst year: 2013, with 4 ha lost.
| Haifa | Jerusalem | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 517 ha | 21 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 26% | 5% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 58 ha | 7 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Wildfires (86%) | Wildfires (54%) |
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.
Haifa
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Jerusalem
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Haifa or Jerusalem?
Haifa has more tree cover: 19.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 12.6% around Jerusalem, or about 49,265 trees against 39,584.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Haifa | Jerusalem | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 49.3K (better) | 39.6K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 25.4K (better) | 54.7K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.1M kg (better) | 871K 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
Haifa vs Jerusalem: your questions answered
Is Jerusalem cleaner than Haifa?
On air quality, yes, right now: Jerusalem reads AQI 53 against 58, a gap of 5 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Haifa averaged AQI 39 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Haifa and Jerusalem today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Haifa reads AQI 58 and Jerusalem reads AQI 53.
Which has lost more forest, Haifa or Jerusalem?
Haifa has lost more: about 517 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 21 ha around Jerusalem. 58 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Haifa or Jerusalem?
Haifa has more tree cover: 19.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 12.6% around Jerusalem, or about 49,265 trees against 39,584. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Haifa and Jerusalem need?
Haifa needs about 25,379 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Jerusalem about 54,664 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Haifa and Jerusalem 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 Haifa vs Jerusalem 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 16, 2026 and Sep 16, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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