Air quality comparison · Russia, 1016 km apart
Nizhniy Novgorod vs Yekaterinburg Air quality index (AQI) today
Yekaterinburg has cleaner air than Nizhniy Novgorod right now: AQI 6 (Good) against 57 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Yekaterinburg averaged AQI 17 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Yekaterinburg has lost more forest since 2001. Nizhniy Novgorod has more tree cover.
Russia
AQI 57
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 11.1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 11:00 local
Russia
AQI 6
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 16:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Nizhniy Novgorod57Yekaterinburg6
Head to head
Nizhniy Novgorod vs Yekaterinburg at a glance
Nizhniy Novgorod and Yekaterinburg are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Nizhniy Novgorod | Yekaterinburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 57 | 6 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 11.1 | 1 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 42 | 17 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 159 ha (better) | 870 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 34.3% (better) | 28.4% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 4.9K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Nizhniy Novgorod and Yekaterinburg right now?
Yekaterinburg has cleaner air than Nizhniy Novgorod right now: AQI 6 (Good) against 57 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
Nizhniy NovgorodYekaterinburg
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).
Nizhniy Novgorod: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Yekaterinburg: 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, Yekaterinburg averaged AQI 17 against 42, 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
- Nizhniy Novgorod0Yekaterinburg5
- Average AQI
- Nizhniy Novgorod42Yekaterinburg17
- Worst day, AQI
- Nizhniy Novgorod47Yekaterinburg45
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Nizhniy Novgorod | Yekaterinburg |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 45 | 45 |
| Nov 6 | 37 | 9 |
| Nov 7 | 36 | 10 |
| Nov 8 | 47 | 17 |
| Nov 9 | 45 | 15 |
| Nov 10 | 40 | 7 |
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 Nizhniy Novgorod and Yekaterinburg today?
Nizhniy Novgorod (AQI 57, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Yekaterinburg (AQI 6, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Nizhniy Novgorod
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Yekaterinburg
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Nizhniy Novgorod
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Yekaterinburg
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Nizhniy Novgorod
- Not needed for most people.
- Yekaterinburg
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Nizhniy Novgorod
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Yekaterinburg
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Nizhniy Novgorod and Yekaterinburg compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Nizhniy Novgorod's air is cleaner than 52% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Yekaterinburg's is cleaner than 99%. Within Russia, that is 10% and 82% of its 168 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Nizhniy Novgorod
- Beats 52%
- Yekaterinburg
- Beats 99%
More tree cover than…
- Nizhniy Novgorod
- Beats 76%
- Yekaterinburg
- Beats 65%
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, Nizhniy Novgorod or Yekaterinburg?
Yekaterinburg has lost more: about 870 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 159 ha around Nizhniy Novgorod. 716 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: 2014, with 20 ha lost.
Worst year: 2008, with 107 ha lost.
| Nizhniy Novgorod | Yekaterinburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 159 ha (better) | 870 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 2.7% (better) | 7.5% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 127 ha (better) | 716 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (78%) | Towns and roads (68%) |
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.
Nizhniy Novgorod
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Yekaterinburg
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Nizhniy Novgorod or Yekaterinburg?
Nizhniy Novgorod has more tree cover: 34.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 28.4% around Yekaterinburg, or about 68,641 trees against 86,098.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Nizhniy Novgorod | Yekaterinburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 68.6K | 86.1K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 4.9K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.5M kg | 1.9M 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
Nizhniy Novgorod vs Yekaterinburg: your questions answered
Is Yekaterinburg cleaner than Nizhniy Novgorod?
On air quality, yes, right now: Yekaterinburg reads AQI 6 against 57, a gap of 51 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, Yekaterinburg averaged AQI 17 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Nizhniy Novgorod and Yekaterinburg today?
In Nizhniy Novgorod, at AQI 57: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Yekaterinburg, at AQI 6: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Nizhniy Novgorod or Yekaterinburg?
Yekaterinburg has lost more: about 870 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 159 ha around Nizhniy Novgorod. 716 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Nizhniy Novgorod or Yekaterinburg?
Nizhniy Novgorod has more tree cover: 34.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 28.4% around Yekaterinburg, or about 68,641 trees against 86,098. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Nizhniy Novgorod and Yekaterinburg need?
Nizhniy Novgorod needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Yekaterinburg about 4,851 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Nizhniy Novgorod and Yekaterinburg 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 are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Nizhniy Novgorod vs Yekaterinburg 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 10, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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