Air quality comparison · Lithuania, 286 km apart
Klaipėda vs Vilnius Air quality index (AQI) today
Vilnius has cleaner air than Klaipėda right now: AQI 95 (Moderate) against 111 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Klaipėda averaged AQI 37 against 41, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Klaipėda has lost more forest since 2001. Vilnius has more tree cover.
Lithuania
AQI 111
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 39.6 µg/m³2.6× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 16:00 local
Lithuania
AQI 95
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 31.5 µg/m³2.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 02:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Klaipėda111Vilnius95
Head to head
Klaipėda vs Vilnius at a glance
Vilnius is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Klaipėda on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Klaipėda | Vilnius | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 111 | 95 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 39.6 | 31.5 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 37 (better) | 41 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 681 ha | 456 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 25.2% | 30.8% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 27.5K | 0 (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Klaipėda and Vilnius right now?
Vilnius has cleaner air than Klaipėda right now: AQI 95 (Moderate) against 111 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Klaipėda's PM2.5 is about 2.6× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Vilnius's PM2.5 is about 2.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Klaipėda is read from a nearby ground station and Vilnius is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
KlaipėdaVilnius
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).
Klaipėda: Ground station · Klaipėda Šilutės Pl., Lithuania, 3.7 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, European Environment Agency, AAA - Aplinkos Apsaugos Agentūra (Lithuania Environmental Protection Agency.
Vilnius: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Kaunas and Białystok. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Klaipėda averaged AQI 37 against 41, 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
- Klaipėda5Vilnius2
- Average AQI
- Klaipėda37Vilnius41
- Worst day, AQI
- Klaipėda71Vilnius58
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Klaipėda | Vilnius |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 13 | 30 |
| Nov 6 | 17 | 22 |
| Nov 7 | 18 | 34 |
| Nov 8 | 23 | 40 |
| Nov 9 | 51 | 52 |
| Nov 10 | 69 | 54 |
| Nov 11 | 71 | 58 |
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 Klaipėda and Vilnius today?
Klaipėda (AQI 111, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Vilnius (AQI 95, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Klaipėda
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
- Vilnius
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Klaipėda
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
- Vilnius
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Klaipėda
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
- Vilnius
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Klaipėda
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
- Vilnius
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Klaipėda and Vilnius compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Klaipėda's air is cleaner than 18% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Vilnius's is cleaner than 24%. Within Lithuania, that is 25% and 75% of its 5 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Klaipėda
- Beats 18%
- Vilnius
- Beats 24%
More tree cover than…
- Klaipėda
- Beats 58%
- Vilnius
- Beats 70%
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, Klaipėda or Vilnius?
Klaipėda has lost more: about 681 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 456 ha around Vilnius. 45 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: 2006, with 125 ha lost.
Worst year: 2025, with 63 ha lost.
| Klaipėda | Vilnius | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 681 ha | 456 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 15% | 4% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 45 ha (better) | 212 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (67%) | Logging (47%) |
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.
Klaipėda
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
Vilnius
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Klaipėda or Vilnius?
Vilnius has more tree cover: 30.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 25.2% around Klaipėda, or about 95,406 trees against 70,618.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Klaipėda | Vilnius | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 70.6K | 95.4K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 27.5K | 0 (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.6M kg | 2.1M kg (better) |
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
Klaipėda vs Vilnius: your questions answered
Is Vilnius cleaner than Klaipėda?
On air quality, yes, right now: Vilnius reads AQI 95 against 111, a gap of 16 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, Klaipėda averaged AQI 37 against 41, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Klaipėda and Vilnius today?
In Klaipėda, at AQI 111: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. In Vilnius, at AQI 95: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Klaipėda or Vilnius?
Klaipėda has lost more: about 681 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 456 ha around Vilnius. 45 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Klaipėda or Vilnius?
Vilnius has more tree cover: 30.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 25.2% around Klaipėda, or about 95,406 trees against 70,618. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Klaipėda and Vilnius need?
Klaipėda needs about 27,463 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Vilnius about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Klaipėda and Vilnius 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. Klaipėda is read from a nearby ground station and Vilnius 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 Klaipėda vs Vilnius 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 (Aug 21, 2026 and Aug 6, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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