Air quality comparison · Austria, 252 km apart
Salzburg vs Vienna Air quality index (AQI) today
Salzburg has cleaner air than Vienna right now: AQI 22 (Good) against 72 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Salzburg averaged AQI 68 against 75, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Salzburg has lost more forest since 2001. Salzburg has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Salzburg22Vienna72
Head to head
Salzburg vs Vienna at a glance
Salzburg is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Vienna on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Salzburg | Vienna | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 22 (better) | 72 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 3.9 (better) | 20.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 68 (better) | 75 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,160 ha | 112 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 44.6% (better) | 16.5% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 41.6K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Salzburg and Vienna right now?
Salzburg has cleaner air than Vienna right now: AQI 22 (Good) against 72 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Vienna's PM2.5 is about 1.3× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
SalzburgVienna
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, Salzburg averaged AQI 68 against 75, 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
- Salzburg4Vienna3
- Average AQI
- Salzburg68Vienna75
- Worst day, AQI
- Salzburg84Vienna89
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Salzburg | Vienna |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 64 | 60 |
| Nov 5 | 66 | 71 |
| Nov 6 | 77 | 78 |
| Nov 7 | 84 | 74 |
| Nov 8 | 77 | 68 |
| Nov 9 | 66 | 89 |
| Nov 10 | 43 | 82 |
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 Salzburg and Vienna today?
Salzburg (AQI 22, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Vienna (AQI 72, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Salzburg
- A good day to be active outside.
- Vienna
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Salzburg
- Open them to air the house.
- Vienna
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Salzburg
- Not needed.
- Vienna
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Salzburg
- Not needed.
- Vienna
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Salzburg and Vienna compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Salzburg's air is cleaner than 87% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Vienna's is cleaner than 36%. Within Austria, that is 100% and 0% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Salzburg
- Beats 87%
- Vienna
- Beats 36%
More tree cover than…
- Salzburg
- Beats 88%
- Vienna
- Beats 38%
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, Salzburg or Vienna?
Salzburg has lost more: about 1,160 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 112 ha around Vienna. 105 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: 2007, with 212 ha lost.
Worst year: 2019, with 11 ha lost.
| Salzburg | Vienna | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,160 ha | 112 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 7.4% | 2% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 105 ha | 21 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Speeding up | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (87%) | Logging (69%) |
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.
Salzburg
2018: satellite photo from August 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Vienna
2018: satellite photo from August 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Salzburg or Vienna?
Salzburg has more tree cover: 44.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.5% around Vienna, or about 135,351 trees against 50,851.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Salzburg | Vienna | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 135K (better) | 50.9K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 41.6K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 3.0M kg (better) | 1.1M 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
Salzburg vs Vienna: your questions answered
Is Salzburg cleaner than Vienna?
On air quality, yes, right now: Salzburg reads AQI 22 against 72, a gap of 50 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, Salzburg averaged AQI 68 against 75, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Salzburg and Vienna today?
In Salzburg, at AQI 22: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Vienna, at AQI 72: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Salzburg or Vienna?
Salzburg has lost more: about 1,160 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 112 ha around Vienna. 105 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Salzburg or Vienna?
Salzburg has more tree cover: 44.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.5% around Vienna, or about 135,351 trees against 50,851. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Salzburg and Vienna need?
Salzburg needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Vienna about 41,606 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Salzburg and Vienna 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 Salzburg vs Vienna 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 6, 2026 and Sep 8, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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