Air quality comparison · Italy, 887 km apart
Milan vs Palermo Air quality index (AQI) today
Palermo has cleaner air than Milan right now: AQI 56 (Moderate) against 132 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Palermo averaged AQI 39 against 117, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Palermo has lost more forest since 2001. Milan has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Milan132Palermo56
Head to head
Milan vs Palermo at a glance
Palermo is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Milan on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Milan | Palermo | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 132 | 56 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 47.9 | 11.2 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 117 | 39 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 14 ha (better) | 465 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 16.8% (better) | 9.9% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 57.2K | 49.6K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Milan and Palermo right now?
Palermo has cleaner air than Milan right now: AQI 56 (Moderate) against 132 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Milan's PM2.5 is about 3.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Milan is read from a nearby ground station and Palermo is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
MilanPalermo
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).
Milan: Ground station · Milano, 300 m away · median of 2 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Matteo, AA.
Palermo: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Palermo averaged AQI 39 against 117, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 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
- Milan0Palermo6
- Average AQI
- Milan117Palermo39
- Worst day, AQI
- Milan152Palermo46
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Milan | Palermo |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 87 | 42 |
| Nov 6 | 152 | 43 |
| Nov 7 | 96 | 30 |
| Nov 8 | 96 | 34 |
| Nov 9 | 143 | 39 |
| Nov 10 | 125 | 46 |
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 Milan and Palermo today?
Milan (AQI 132, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Palermo (AQI 56, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Milan
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
- Palermo
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Milan
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
- Palermo
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Milan
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
- Palermo
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Milan
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
- Palermo
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Milan and Palermo compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Milan's air is cleaner than 13% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Palermo's is cleaner than 52%. Within Italy, that is 19% and 58% of its 44 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Milan
- Beats 13%
- Palermo
- Beats 52%
More tree cover than…
- Milan
- Beats 39%
- Palermo
- Beats 21%
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, Milan or Palermo?
Palermo has lost more: about 465 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 14 ha around Milan. 134 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: 2004, with 2 ha lost.
Worst year: 2023, with 77 ha lost.
| Milan | Palermo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 14 ha (better) | 465 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3.3% (better) | 11% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 4 ha (better) | 134 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (30%) | Wildfires (66%) |
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.
Milan
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Palermo
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km northwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Milan or Palermo?
Milan has more tree cover: 16.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.9% around Palermo, or about 52,779 trees against 24,446.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Milan | Palermo | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 52.8K (better) | 24.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 57.2K | 49.6K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg (better) | 538K 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
Milan vs Palermo: your questions answered
Is Palermo cleaner than Milan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Palermo reads AQI 56 against 132, a gap of 76 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Palermo averaged AQI 39 against 117, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Milan and Palermo today?
In Milan, at AQI 132: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. In Palermo, at AQI 56: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Milan or Palermo?
Palermo has lost more: about 465 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 14 ha around Milan. 134 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Milan or Palermo?
Milan has more tree cover: 16.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.9% around Palermo, or about 52,779 trees against 24,446. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Milan and Palermo need?
Milan needs about 57,177 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Palermo about 49,633 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Milan and Palermo 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. Milan is read from a nearby ground station and Palermo 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 Milan vs Palermo 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 7, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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