Air quality comparison · United Kingdom, 32.9 mi (53 km) apart
Manchester vs Sheffield Air quality index (AQI) today
Sheffield has cleaner air than Manchester right now: AQI 40 (Good) against 53 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Manchester averaged AQI 64 against 65, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Sheffield has lost more forest since 2001. Sheffield has more tree cover.
United Kingdom
AQI 53
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 10 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 16:00 local
United Kingdom
AQI 40
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 7.2 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 15:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Manchester53Sheffield40
Head to head
Manchester vs Sheffield at a glance
Sheffield is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Manchester on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Manchester | Sheffield | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 53 | 40 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 10 | 7.2 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 64 (better) | 65 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 26 ha (better) | 163 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 1.2 mi (2 km) of the center. | 13.3% | 26.3% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 52.3K | 11.6K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Manchester and Sheffield right now?
Sheffield has cleaner air than Manchester right now: AQI 40 (Good) against 53 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
ManchesterSheffield
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).
Manchester: Ground station · Salford Eccles, 3.8 mi (6.1 km) away. Data: OpenAQ · DEFRA.
Sheffield: Ground station · Sheffield Barnsley Road, United Kingdom, 1.6 mi (2.5 km) away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, UK-AIR, air quality information resource - Defra, UK.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Manchester averaged AQI 64 against 65, 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
- Manchester4Sheffield2
- Average AQI
- Manchester64Sheffield65
- Worst day, AQI
- Manchester89Sheffield83
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Manchester | Sheffield |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 31 | 33 |
| Nov 6 | 62 | 62 |
| Nov 7 | 81 | 75 |
| Nov 8 | 89 | 78 |
| Nov 9 | 77 | 83 |
| Nov 10 | 65 | 75 |
| Nov 11 | 40 | 50 |
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 Manchester and Sheffield today?
Manchester (AQI 53, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Sheffield (AQI 40, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Manchester
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Sheffield
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Manchester
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Sheffield
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Manchester
- Not needed for most people.
- Sheffield
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Manchester
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Sheffield
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Manchester and Sheffield compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Manchester's air is cleaner than 57% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sheffield's is cleaner than 70%. Within United Kingdom, that is 47% and 63% of its 92 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Manchester
- Beats 57%
- Sheffield
- Beats 70%
More tree cover than…
- Manchester
- Beats 30%
- Sheffield
- Beats 60%
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, Manchester or Sheffield?
Sheffield has lost more: about 163 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 26 ha around Manchester. 11 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 5 ha lost.
Worst year: 2022, with 26 ha lost.
| Manchester | Sheffield | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 26 ha (better) | 163 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | under 1% (better) | 2.9% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 10 ha (better) | 11 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (34%) | Logging (83%) |
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.
Manchester
2018: satellite photo from June 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Sheffield
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Manchester or Sheffield?
Sheffield has more tree cover: 26.3% of the land within 1.2 mi (2 km) of its center against 13.3% around Manchester, or about 82,459 trees against 41,616.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Manchester | Sheffield | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 41.6K | 82.5K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 52.3K | 11.6K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 916K kg | 1.8M kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 1.2 mi (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 1.2 mi (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
Manchester vs Sheffield: your questions answered
Is Sheffield cleaner than Manchester?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sheffield reads AQI 40 against 53, a gap of 13 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, Manchester averaged AQI 64 against 65, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Manchester and Sheffield today?
In Manchester, at AQI 53: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Sheffield, at AQI 40: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Manchester or Sheffield?
Sheffield has lost more: about 163 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 26 ha around Manchester. 11 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Manchester or Sheffield?
Sheffield has more tree cover: 26.3% of the land within 1.2 mi (2 km) of its center against 13.3% around Manchester, or about 82,459 trees against 41,616. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Manchester and Sheffield need?
Manchester needs about 52,255 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sheffield about 11,601 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 32.9 mi (53 km) apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Manchester and Sheffield 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 Manchester vs Sheffield 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 (Jul 12, 2026 and Aug 23, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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