Air quality comparison · Armenia, 70 km apart
Vanadzor vs Yerevan Air quality index (AQI) today
Vanadzor has cleaner air than Yerevan right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 127 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Vanadzor averaged AQI 14 against 29, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Vanadzor has lost more forest since 2001. Vanadzor has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Vanadzor32Yerevan127
Head to head
Vanadzor vs Yerevan at a glance
Vanadzor is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Yerevan on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Vanadzor | Yerevan | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 32 (better) | 127 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.8 (better) | 46.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 14 (better) | 29 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 43 ha | 9 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 31.9% (better) | 17.9% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 53.7K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Vanadzor and Yerevan right now?
Vanadzor has cleaner air than Yerevan right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 127 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Yerevan's PM2.5 is about 3.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Yerevan is read from a nearby ground station and Vanadzor is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
VanadzorYerevan
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).
Vanadzor: Estimate · model corrected with 4 station cities within 125 km, e.g. Hrazdan and Yerevan. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 125 km, US EPA index.
Yerevan: Ground station · 32 Aram street, Yerevan, Armenia, 400 m away · median of 20 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Clarity, Anton Vlasov, Asatryan studio balkon, Tubal Cain.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Vanadzor averaged AQI 14 against 29, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 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
- Vanadzor6Yerevan0
- Average AQI
- Vanadzor14Yerevan29
- Worst day, AQI
- Vanadzor31Yerevan39
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Vanadzor | Yerevan |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 31 | 39 |
| Nov 6 | 14 | 29 |
| Nov 7 | 11 | 33 |
| Nov 8 | 9 | 25 |
| Nov 9 | 9 | 20 |
| Nov 10 | 12 | 26 |
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 Vanadzor and Yerevan today?
Vanadzor (AQI 32, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Yerevan (AQI 127, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Exercise outdoors
- Vanadzor
- A good day to be active outside.
- Yerevan
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
- Vanadzor
- Open them to air the house.
- Yerevan
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
- Vanadzor
- Not needed.
- Yerevan
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Vanadzor
- Not needed.
- Yerevan
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Vanadzor and Yerevan compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Vanadzor's air is cleaner than 77% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Yerevan's is cleaner than 14%. Within Armenia, that is 100% and 0% of its 5 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Vanadzor
- Beats 77%
- Yerevan
- Beats 14%
More tree cover than…
- Vanadzor
- Beats 72%
- Yerevan
- Beats 41%
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, Vanadzor or Yerevan?
Vanadzor has lost more: about 43 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 9 ha around Yerevan. under 1 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: 2009, with 13 ha lost.
Worst year: 2004, with 3 ha lost.
| Vanadzor | Yerevan | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 43 ha | 9 ha (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | under 1 ha (better) | 7 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (66%) | Towns and roads (75%) |
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.
Vanadzor
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Yerevan
2018: satellite photo from July 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Vanadzor or Yerevan?
Vanadzor has more tree cover: 31.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 17.9% around Yerevan, or about 100,217 trees against 56,235.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Vanadzor | Yerevan | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 100K (better) | 56.2K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 53.7K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.2M kg (better) | 1.2M 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
Vanadzor vs Yerevan: your questions answered
Is Vanadzor cleaner than Yerevan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Vanadzor reads AQI 32 against 127, a gap of 95 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, Vanadzor averaged AQI 14 against 29, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Vanadzor and Yerevan today?
In Vanadzor, at AQI 32: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Yerevan, at AQI 127: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Which has lost more forest, Vanadzor or Yerevan?
Vanadzor has lost more: about 43 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 9 ha around Yerevan. under 1 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Vanadzor or Yerevan?
Vanadzor has more tree cover: 31.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 17.9% around Yerevan, or about 100,217 trees against 56,235. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Vanadzor and Yerevan need?
Vanadzor needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Yerevan about 53,721 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Vanadzor and Yerevan 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. Yerevan is read from a nearby ground station and Vanadzor 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 Vanadzor vs Yerevan 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 15, 2026 and Sep 14, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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