Air quality comparison · Brazil, 1456 km apart
Salvador vs São Paulo Air quality index (AQI) today
Salvador has cleaner air than São Paulo right now: AQI 42 (Good) against 55 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Salvador averaged AQI 51 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Salvador has lost more forest since 2001. São Paulo has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Salvador42São Paulo55
Head to head
Salvador vs São Paulo at a glance
Salvador and São Paulo are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Salvador | São Paulo | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 42 (better) | 55 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 7.5 (better) | 11.1 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 51 (better) | 60 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 263 ha | 30 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 9.8% | 10.6% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 63.3K | 59.4K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Salvador and São Paulo right now?
Salvador has cleaner air than São Paulo right now: AQI 42 (Good) against 55 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
São Paulo is read from a nearby ground station and Salvador is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
SalvadorSão Paulo
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).
Salvador: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
São Paulo: Ground station · Parque D.Pedro II, São Paulo, Brazil, 900 m away · median of 6 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, CETESB - Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Salvador averaged AQI 51 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Salvador4São Paulo2
- Average AQI
- Salvador51São Paulo60
- Worst day, AQI
- Salvador55São Paulo84
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Salvador | São Paulo |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 48 | 84 |
| Nov 6 | 55 | 74 |
| Nov 7 | 55 | 74 |
| Nov 8 | 51 | 30 |
| Nov 9 | 47 | 44 |
| Nov 10 | 47 | 55 |
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 Salvador and São Paulo today?
Salvador (AQI 42, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
São Paulo (AQI 55, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Salvador
- A good day to be active outside.
- São Paulo
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Salvador
- Open them to air the house.
- São Paulo
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Salvador
- Not needed.
- São Paulo
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Salvador
- Not needed.
- São Paulo
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Salvador and São Paulo compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Salvador's air is cleaner than 68% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and São Paulo's is cleaner than 53%. Within Brazil, that is 38% and 17% of its 304 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Salvador
- Beats 68%
- São Paulo
- Beats 53%
More tree cover than…
- Salvador
- Beats 20%
- São Paulo
- Beats 23%
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, Salvador or São Paulo?
Salvador has lost more: about 263 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 30 ha around São Paulo. 257 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 23 ha lost.
Worst year: 2005, with 11 ha lost.
| Salvador | São Paulo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 263 ha | 30 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 13% | 5.8% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 257 ha | 19 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (93%) | Towns and roads (63%) |
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.
Salvador
2019: satellite photo from October 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
São Paulo
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Salvador or São Paulo?
São Paulo has more tree cover: 10.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.8% around Salvador, or about 32,435 trees against 30,726.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Salvador | São Paulo | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 30.7K | 32.4K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 63.3K | 59.4K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 676K kg | 714K 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
Salvador vs São Paulo: your questions answered
Is Salvador cleaner than São Paulo?
On air quality, yes, right now: Salvador reads AQI 42 against 55, a gap of 13 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, Salvador averaged AQI 51 against 60, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Salvador and São Paulo today?
In Salvador, at AQI 42: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In São Paulo, at AQI 55: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Salvador or São Paulo?
Salvador has lost more: about 263 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 30 ha around São Paulo. 257 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Salvador or São Paulo?
São Paulo has more tree cover: 10.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.8% around Salvador, or about 32,435 trees against 30,726. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Salvador and São Paulo need?
Salvador needs about 63,333 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and São Paulo about 59,362 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Salvador and São Paulo 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. São Paulo is read from a nearby ground station and Salvador 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 Salvador vs São Paulo 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 (Oct 21, 2026 and Sep 27, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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