Air quality comparison · Argentina, 69 km apart
Salta vs San Salvador de Jujuy Air quality index (AQI) today
Salta has cleaner air than San Salvador de Jujuy right now: AQI 60 (Moderate) against 86 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Salta averaged AQI 25 against 31, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. San Salvador de Jujuy has lost more forest since 2001. San Salvador de Jujuy has more tree cover.
Argentina
AQI 60
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 13.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 14:10 local
Argentina
AQI 86
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 27.9 µg/m³1.9× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 15:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Salta60San Salvador de Jujuy86
Head to head
Salta vs San Salvador de Jujuy at a glance
Salta is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and San Salvador de Jujuy on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Salta | San Salvador de Jujuy | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 60 (better) | 86 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 13.7 (better) | 27.9 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 25 (better) | 31 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 379 ha (better) | 1,730 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 7.2% | 12.0% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 71.6K | 56.5K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Salta and San Salvador de Jujuy right now?
Salta has cleaner air than San Salvador de Jujuy right now: AQI 60 (Moderate) against 86 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
San Salvador de Jujuy's PM2.5 is about 1.9× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
SaltaSan Salvador de Jujuy
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?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Salta averaged AQI 25 against 31, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 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
- Salta7San Salvador de Jujuy0
- Average AQI
- Salta25San Salvador de Jujuy31
- Worst day, AQI
- Salta41San Salvador de Jujuy49
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Salta | San Salvador de Jujuy |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 41 | 49 |
| Nov 6 | 26 | 29 |
| Nov 7 | 17 | 24 |
| Nov 8 | 36 | 41 |
| Nov 9 | 27 | 34 |
| Nov 10 | 13 | 19 |
| Nov 11 | 14 | 18 |
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 Salta and San Salvador de Jujuy 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 Salta and San Salvador de Jujuy compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Salta's air is cleaner than 47% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and San Salvador de Jujuy's is cleaner than 27%. Within Argentina, that is 17% and 0% of its 37 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Salta
- Beats 47%
- San Salvador de Jujuy
- Beats 27%
More tree cover than…
- Salta
- Beats 15%
- San Salvador de Jujuy
- Beats 26%
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, Salta or San Salvador de Jujuy?
San Salvador de Jujuy has lost more: about 1,730 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 379 ha around Salta. 949 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 52 ha lost.
Worst year: 2013, with 203 ha lost.
| Salta | San Salvador de Jujuy | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 379 ha (better) | 1,730 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 4.9% (better) | 8.4% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 353 ha (better) | 949 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (68%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (39%) |
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.
Salta
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
San Salvador de Jujuy
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, Salta or San Salvador de Jujuy?
San Salvador de Jujuy has more tree cover: 12.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 7.2% around Salta, or about 37,699 trees against 22,619.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Salta | San Salvador de Jujuy | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 22.6K | 37.7K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 71.6K | 56.5K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 498K kg | 829K 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
Salta vs San Salvador de Jujuy: your questions answered
Is Salta cleaner than San Salvador de Jujuy?
On air quality, yes, right now: Salta reads AQI 60 against 86, a gap of 26 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Salta averaged AQI 25 against 31, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Salta and San Salvador de Jujuy today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Salta reads AQI 60 and San Salvador de Jujuy reads AQI 86.
Which has lost more forest, Salta or San Salvador de Jujuy?
San Salvador de Jujuy has lost more: about 1,730 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 379 ha around Salta. 949 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Salta or San Salvador de Jujuy?
San Salvador de Jujuy has more tree cover: 12.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 7.2% around Salta, or about 37,699 trees against 22,619. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Salta and San Salvador de Jujuy need?
Salta needs about 71,628 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and San Salvador de Jujuy about 56,549 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Salta and San Salvador de Jujuy 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 Salta vs San Salvador de Jujuy 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 28, 2026 and Oct 31, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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