Air quality comparison · Nigeria, 834 km apart
Kano vs Lagos Air quality index (AQI) today
Kano has cleaner air than Lagos right now: AQI 65 (Moderate) against 88 (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, Lagos averaged AQI 66 against 181, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Lagos has lost more forest since 2001. Kano has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kano65Lagos88
Head to head
Kano vs Lagos at a glance
Kano is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Lagos on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kano | Lagos | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 65 (better) | 88 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 14.1 (better) | 29.1 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 181 | 66 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | under 1 ha (better) | 31 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 1.7% (better) | 0.3% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 88.8K | 53.6K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kano and Lagos right now?
Kano has cleaner air than Lagos right now: AQI 65 (Moderate) against 88 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Lagos's PM2.5 is about 1.9× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Lagos is read from a nearby ground station and Kano is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
KanoLagos
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).
Kano: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Lagos: Ground station · MARINA INTERCHANGE STATION, 900 m away · median of 9 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, HabitatMap, IQAir, LAMATA, Air Quality for Collective Public Health Action Project, HabitatMap · AirCasting, Uniport-UCAM Urban AQ.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Lagos averaged AQI 66 against 181, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 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
- Kano0Lagos7
- Average AQI
- Kano181Lagos66
- Worst day, AQI
- Kano208Lagos72
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Kano | Lagos |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 189 | 68 |
| Nov 5 | 208 | 62 |
| Nov 6 | 181 | 68 |
| Nov 7 | 175 | 66 |
| Nov 8 | 195 | 68 |
| Nov 9 | 179 | 72 |
| Nov 10 | 140 | 60 |
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 Kano and Lagos 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 Kano and Lagos compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kano's air is cleaner than 42% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Lagos's is cleaner than 26%. Within Nigeria, that is 73% and 32% of its 99 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kano
- Beats 42%
- Lagos
- Beats 26%
More tree cover than…
- Kano
- Beats 3%
- Lagos
- Beats 1%
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, Kano or Lagos?
Lagos has lost more: about 31 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Kano. 29 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.
No forest lost in any year.
Worst year: 2004, with 4 ha lost.
| Kano | Lagos | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | under 1 ha (better) | 31 ha |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | under 1 ha (better) | 29 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Not classified | Towns and roads (70%) |
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.
Kano
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Lagos
2019: satellite photo from January 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kano or Lagos?
Kano has more tree cover: 1.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.3% around Lagos, or about 5,335 trees against 541.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kano | Lagos | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 5.3K (better) | 541 |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 88.8K | 53.6K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 117K kg (better) | 11.9K 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
Kano vs Lagos: your questions answered
Is Kano cleaner than Lagos?
On air quality, yes, right now: Kano reads AQI 65 against 88, a gap of 23 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, Lagos averaged AQI 66 against 181, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kano and Lagos today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Kano reads AQI 65 and Lagos reads AQI 88.
Which has lost more forest, Kano or Lagos?
Lagos has lost more: about 31 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Kano. 29 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kano or Lagos?
Kano has more tree cover: 1.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.3% around Lagos, or about 5,335 trees against 541. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kano and Lagos need?
Kano needs about 88,818 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Lagos about 53,557 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kano and Lagos 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. Lagos is read from a nearby ground station and Kano 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 Kano vs Lagos 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 (Oct 28, 2026 and Jan 24, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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