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Live air quality · updated all day

World air quality today The AQI right now, city by city

Right now Kasur, Pakistan has the worst air of the cities with a live reading from a ground station, at AQI 690 (Hazardous), and Las Cruces, United States the cleanest, at AQI 1.

Every city is measured the same way, over the same 2 km (1.2 mi) circle: its air quality right now, its tree cover, and the forest lost around it since 2001.

5,421 cities in 242 countries, each with its own air quality and tree cover report.

Air quality (AQI) now

cities with a report
5,421
countries
242
worst air now: Kasur
690
cleanest air now: Las Cruces
1

Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Worst air now: Kasur · AQI 690

New rankingThe greenest US cities in 2026, ranked by tree coverSide by sideCompare any two cities on air quality and tree cover

The dataset

Global tree cover and air quality, measured

Every city below is measured the same way — tree canopy read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km (1.2 mi) radius, paired with a live US AQI reading. Same method, same area, so the numbers compare directly. Currently 5,420 of 5,421 cities across 241 of 242 countries have been measured.

Average tree cover
24.2%3806 of 5420 cities below their target
Average air quality
AQI 75Mean of the latest US AQI per city
Trees counted
387.0MEstimated from canopy, across every measured area
Trees still needed
189.6MTo bring each area up to its canopy target

City rankings

The worst air quality right now is in Kasur, Pakistan (AQI 690), Arifwala, Pakistan (AQI 639) and Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan (AQI 616), and the cleanest in Las Cruces, United States (AQI 1), Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil (AQI 6) and Caxias do Sul, Brazil (AQI 6). Air quality changes hourly, so this ordering moves through the day.

The greenest cities measured so far are Dārjiling, India (88.2%), Tocoa, Honduras (84.7%) and San Tung Chung Hang, Hong Kong (83.1%). Setting aside desert and near-barren sites, where the figure reflects climate rather than anything a city decided, the least tree cover is in Sucre, Bolivia (0.5%), Nasiriyah, Iraq (0.5%) and Marvdasht, Iran (0.5%).

Worst air quality

Highest US AQI right now

  1. 1KasurPakistan58m ago690
  2. 2ArifwalaPakistan1h ago639
  3. 3Dera Ghazi KhanPakistan58m ago616
  4. 4Sawai MadhopurIndia1h ago564
  5. 5SargodhaPakistan58m ago551
  6. 6Qadirpur RanPakistan58m ago527
  7. 7MultanPakistan58m ago517
  8. 8TonkIndia1h ago499
  9. 9EminabadPakistan58m ago469
  10. 10BahawalpurPakistan58m ago463

Cleanest air

Lowest US AQI right now

  1. 1Las CrucesUnited States58m ago1
  2. 2Foz do IguaçuBrazil58m ago6
  3. 3Caxias do SulBrazil58m ago6
  4. 4FormosaArgentina48m ago6
  5. 5NepeanCanada58m ago6
  6. 6BradfordUnited Kingdom58m ago6
  7. 7PomonaUnited States58m ago6
  8. 8Santa RosaPhilippines58m ago6
  9. 9CalambaPhilippines58m ago6
  10. 10ItauguáParaguay58m ago6

Greenest cities

Highest tree cover

  1. 1DārjilingIndia88.2%
  2. 2TocoaHonduras84.7%
  3. 3San Tung Chung HangHong Kong83.1%
  4. 4MalappuramIndia82.8%
  5. 5GangtokIndia82.7%
  6. 6PonnāniIndia82.6%
  7. 7Thị Trấn Thuận ChâuVietnam82.6%
  8. 8AvaruaCook Islands81.8%
  9. 9IjokMalaysia81.0%
  10. 10FenghuangChina80.9%

Least tree cover

Lowest canopy, excluding barren and desert sites

  1. 1SucreBolivia0.5%
  2. 2NasiriyahIraq0.5%
  3. 3MarvdashtIran0.5%
  4. 4GuelmimMorocco0.5%
  5. 5HurghadaEgypt0.5%
  6. 6Marsá MaţrūḩEgypt0.5%
  7. 7ArīshEgypt0.5%
  8. 8AjdabiyaLibya0.5%
  9. 9TürkmenbaşyTurkmenistan0.5%
  10. 10El OuedAlgeria0.6%
The 100 most polluted cities right now The 100 with the cleanest air

Since 2001, the most forest cleared for good within 10 km of a city was around Kluang, Malaysia (18,200 ha), Subulussalam, Indonesia (16,800 ha) and Kakata, Liberia (16,300 ha). Between 2000 and 2020, forest grew the most around Đồng Xoài, Vietnam (+7,190 ha), Cai Lậy, Vietnam (+3,610 ha) and Tocoa, Honduras (+3,230 ha), net of what was lost there.

Most deforested cities

Forest cleared for good within 10 km, 2001–2025

  1. 1KluangMalaysia18,200 ha
  2. 2SubulussalamIndonesia16,800 ha
  3. 3KakataLiberia16,300 ha
  4. 4IjokMalaysia15,900 ha
  5. 5PrabumulihIndonesia15,700 ha
  6. 6PangkalanbuunIndonesia14,700 ha
  7. 7SepangMalaysia14,500 ha
  8. 8BaturajaIndonesia13,900 ha
  9. 9MaranMalaysia12,200 ha
  10. 10Twifu PrasoGhana11,800 ha
All cities by deforestation

Cities gaining forest

Net forest gained within 10 km, 2000–2020

  1. 1Đồng XoàiVietnam+7,190 ha
  2. 2Cai LậyVietnam+3,610 ha
  3. 3TocoaHonduras+3,230 ha
  4. 4OlatheUnited States+3,080 ha
  5. 5MengziChina+3,080 ha
  6. 6MinhangChina+3,010 ha
  7. 7LangfangChina+2,580 ha
  8. 8DezhouChina+2,440 ha
  9. 9LincangChina+2,420 ha
  10. 10LongshanChina+2,330 ha
All cities gaining forest

Neighbouring cities share much of their 10 km circles, so each list names one city per area; the full rankings list every city.

By continent

Averages weighted by how many cities each country contributes, so a country with twenty measured cities counts for more than one with three.

ContinentCountriesCitiesTree coverAir quality
Asia46257523.5%AQI 99
Europe3977630.0%AQI 53
North America1659326.1%AQI 45
South America1254023.4%AQI 35
Africa5381717.7%AQI 71
Oceania54333.3%AQI 34

Country rankings

Averaged across each country's measured cities. Countries with fewer than three measured cities are left out, because an average of one or two says more about which city was measured than about the country.

Most tree cover by country

  1. 1Bhutan4 cities60.9%
  2. 2Hong Kong7 cities60.1%
  3. 3Bangladesh45 cities52.9%
  4. 4Brunei3 cities51.9%
  5. 5Comoros3 cities51.3%
  6. 6Papua New Guinea5 cities49.9%
  7. 7Fiji4 cities49.6%
  8. 8Central African Republic7 cities46.6%

Open a country for its full breakdown

Worst air quality by country

  1. 1Pakistan127 citiesAQI 290
  2. 2Egypt65 citiesAQI 190
  3. 3India471 citiesAQI 135
  4. 4Nepal13 citiesAQI 134
  5. 5Bangladesh45 citiesAQI 131
  6. 6Bosnia and Herzegovina5 citiesAQI 121
  7. 7China639 citiesAQI 112
  8. 8Malawi5 citiesAQI 101

Open a country for its full breakdown

Every country

242 countries · 5,421 cities · tree cover and AQI shown where measured

Asia(50)

Europe(53)

Africa(58)

Questions

How these numbers work

Which cities have the worst air quality right now?

Kasur, Pakistan currently has the highest US AQI of the cities measured, at 690 (Hazardous). Air quality changes hourly, so this ranking moves through the day.

Which cities have the cleanest air right now?

Las Cruces, United States currently has the lowest US AQI of the cities measured, at 1 (Good). Only readings from the last two days count, so a city whose station has gone quiet can't top the list.

What does the AQI number mean?

US AQI converts pollutant concentrations — PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, ozone, SO₂ and CO — onto one 0-500 scale, which extreme smoke or dust can push past. Below 50 is good, 51-100 moderate, 101-150 unhealthy for sensitive groups, and above 150 unhealthy for everyone. Each city report shows the individual pollutants behind the number. Reading AQI properly: what PM2.5 tells you

Which cities have lost the most forest?

Counting forest cleared for good — for farms, mines, roads and towns — within 10 km of each city, the most was lost around Kluang, Malaysia: about 18,200 ha from 2001 to 2025. Fire and logging, after which forest usually grows back, are left out. The most deforested cities

Which cities are gaining forest?

Comparing forest maps for 2000 and 2020, the forest within 10 km of Đồng Xoài, Vietnam grew the most: a net gain of about 7,190 ha. Forest here means trees at least 5 m tall, plantations and orchards included. Cities gaining forest

Which city has the most tree cover?

Of the 5,420 cities measured so far, Dārjiling, India has the highest tree cover at 88.2% within the 2 km (1.2 mi) radius measured. The ranking above lists the top ten.

How is tree cover measured?

From Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. Live vegetation reflects near-infrared strongly and absorbs red light, so the ratio between those bands (NDVI) finds the greenery; a green pixel counts as tree canopy where ESA's WorldCover map or Meta and WRI's 1 m canopy-height map shows trees, so lawns and crop fields don't, while street trees too small for a 10 m pixel do. The tree count is an estimate derived from that cover, not a census, and each report covers a 2 km (1.2 mi) radius so cities compare on identical terms. How satellites track tree cover

How much tree cover should a city have?

Research points to roughly 30% of a residential area under canopy. Airleaf uses that as the baseline target and raises it where air quality is poor, which is why a city's target can read higher than 30% on its own report. How many trees does a city need?

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