Air quality comparison · France, 468 km apart
Nice vs Toulouse Air quality index (AQI) today
Toulouse has cleaner air than Nice right now: AQI 38 (Good) against 41 (Good).
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, Nice averaged AQI 35 against 46, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Nice has lost more forest since 2001. Nice has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Nice41Toulouse38
Head to head
Nice vs Toulouse at a glance
Nice and Toulouse are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Nice | Toulouse | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 41 | 38 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 7.4 | 6.8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 35 (better) | 46 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 241 ha | 48 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 22.1% (better) | 20.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 21.1K (better) | 27.8K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Nice and Toulouse right now?
Toulouse has cleaner air than Nice right now: AQI 38 (Good) against 41 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
NiceToulouse
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).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Nice averaged AQI 35 against 46, 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
- Nice5Toulouse2
- Average AQI
- Nice35Toulouse46
- Worst day, AQI
- Nice56Toulouse59
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Nice | Toulouse |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 18 | 54 |
| Nov 6 | 26 | 59 |
| Nov 7 | 28 | 55 |
| Nov 8 | 37 | 47 |
| Nov 9 | 43 | 35 |
| Nov 10 | 35 | 36 |
| Nov 11 | 56 | 36 |
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 Nice and Toulouse today?
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Both are in the same EPA band today (Good), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
A good day to be active outside.
Windows
Open them to air the house.
Masks
Not needed.
Air purifier
Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Nice and Toulouse compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Nice's air is cleaner than 69% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Toulouse's is cleaner than 72%. Within France, that is 42% and 47% of its 39 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Nice
- Beats 69%
- Toulouse
- Beats 72%
More tree cover than…
- Nice
- Beats 51%
- Toulouse
- Beats 49%
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, Nice or Toulouse?
Nice has lost more: about 241 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 48 ha around Toulouse. 166 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: 2017, with 54 ha lost.
Worst year: 2024, with 8 ha lost.
| Nice | Toulouse | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 241 ha | 48 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 4.9% | 2.6% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 166 ha | 29 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (69%) | Towns and roads (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.
Nice
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
Toulouse
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Nice or Toulouse?
Nice has more tree cover: 22.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 20.8% around Toulouse, or about 59,154 trees against 62,862.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Nice | Toulouse | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 59.2K | 62.9K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 21.1K (better) | 27.8K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.3M kg | 1.4M 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
Nice vs Toulouse: your questions answered
Is Toulouse cleaner than Nice?
On air quality, yes, right now: Toulouse reads AQI 38 against 41, a gap of 3 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, Nice averaged AQI 35 against 46, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Nice and Toulouse today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Nice reads AQI 41 and Toulouse reads AQI 38.
Which has lost more forest, Nice or Toulouse?
Nice has lost more: about 241 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 48 ha around Toulouse. 166 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Nice or Toulouse?
Nice has more tree cover: 22.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 20.8% around Toulouse, or about 59,154 trees against 62,862. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Nice and Toulouse need?
Nice needs about 21,145 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Toulouse about 27,804 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Nice and Toulouse 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 Nice vs Toulouse 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 19, 2026 and Sep 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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