Air quality comparison · Kenya, 136 km apart
Nairobi vs Nakuru Air quality index (AQI) today
Nakuru has cleaner air than Nairobi right now: AQI 76 (Moderate) against 96 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 45. Nairobi has lost more forest since 2001. Nairobi has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Nairobi96Nakuru76
Head to head
Nairobi vs Nakuru at a glance
Nakuru is ahead on 3 of 6 measures, and Nairobi on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Nairobi | Nakuru | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 96 | 76 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 33.1 | 17.1 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 45 | 45 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 336 ha | 99 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 26.2% (better) | 14.6% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 11.9K (better) | 46.0K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Nairobi and Nakuru right now?
Nakuru has cleaner air than Nairobi right now: AQI 76 (Moderate) against 96 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Nairobi's PM2.5 is about 2.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Nakuru's PM2.5 is about 1.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Nairobi is read from a nearby ground station and Nakuru is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
NairobiNakuru
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).
Nairobi: Ground station · Kitisuru, 9.2 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient.
Nakuru: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 125 km, e.g. Limuru Town. and Banana Hill. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 125 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 45. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Nairobi2Nakuru4
- Average AQI
- Nairobi45Nakuru45
- Worst day, AQI
- Nairobi52Nakuru52
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Nairobi | Nakuru |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 41 | 52 |
| Nov 6 | 44 | 41 |
| Nov 7 | 52 | 49 |
| Nov 8 | 42 | 44 |
| Nov 9 | 44 | 39 |
| Nov 10 | 44 | 43 |
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 Nairobi and Nakuru 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 Nairobi and Nakuru compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Nairobi's air is cleaner than 23% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Nakuru's is cleaner than 33%. Within Kenya, that is 32% and 48% of its 26 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Nairobi
- Beats 23%
- Nakuru
- Beats 33%
More tree cover than…
- Nairobi
- Beats 60%
- Nakuru
- Beats 33%
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, Nairobi or Nakuru?
Nairobi has lost more: about 336 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 99 ha around Nakuru. 307 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: 2001, with 103 ha lost.
Worst year: 2015, with 19 ha lost.
| Nairobi | Nakuru | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 336 ha | 99 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 9.2% | 4.4% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 307 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (79%) | Logging (56%) |
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.
Nairobi
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 5 km north of the city center.
Nakuru
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km north of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Nairobi or Nakuru?
Nairobi has more tree cover: 26.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 14.6% around Nakuru, or about 82,310 trees against 43,620.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Nairobi | Nakuru | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 82.3K (better) | 43.6K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 11.9K (better) | 46.0K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.8M kg (better) | 960K 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
Nairobi vs Nakuru: your questions answered
Is Nakuru cleaner than Nairobi?
On air quality, yes, right now: Nakuru reads AQI 76 against 96, a gap of 20 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, both averaged AQI 45.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Nairobi and Nakuru today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Nairobi reads AQI 96 and Nakuru reads AQI 76.
Which has lost more forest, Nairobi or Nakuru?
Nairobi has lost more: about 336 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 99 ha around Nakuru. 307 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Nairobi or Nakuru?
Nairobi has more tree cover: 26.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 14.6% around Nakuru, or about 82,310 trees against 43,620. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Nairobi and Nakuru need?
Nairobi needs about 11,938 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Nakuru about 46,010 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Nairobi and Nakuru 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. Nairobi is read from a nearby ground station and Nakuru 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 Nairobi vs Nakuru 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 4, 2026 and Sep 7, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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