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North America · air quality report · 114 cities

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

Right now the 114 cities Airleaf measures in Mexico average AQI 50 (good). The worst air is in Monterrey, at AQI 96, and the cleanest in Reynosa, at AQI 20.

At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the average is AQI 68 across 43 cities. None of the 114 measured cities is over AQI 100 today, and 46% have Good air.

Average right now

AQI 50

Good

US EPA index, across 114 cities
cities measured
114
worst air: Monterrey
96
cleanest air: Reynosa
20
average tree cover
14.6%

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

Air quality right now in the 8 largest cities in Mexico

Mexico City

2 km around La Merced

Moderate

Air quality now

AQI 75

7.2%
tree cover

71.6K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 9, 2026

Tijuana

2 km around 9 Section

Moderate

Air quality now

AQI 66

5.4%
tree cover

77.3K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 19, 2026

Puebla

2 km around Historic Centre of Puebla

Good

Air quality now

AQI 47

7.1%
tree cover

71.9K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 12, 2026

Santiago de Querétaro

2 km around Centro

Moderate

Air quality now

AQI 63

8.8%
tree cover

66.6K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 10, 2026

León de los Aldama

2 km around Centro

Good

Air quality now

AQI 46

4.4%
tree cover

80.4K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 5, 2026

Iztapalapa

2 km around Albarrada

Moderate

Air quality now

AQI 77

9.2%
tree cover

65.3K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 22, 2026

Ecatepec de Morelos

2 km around Manzana 015

Moderate

Air quality now

AQI 75

18.1%
tree cover

37.4K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 22, 2026

Ciudad Juárez

2 km around Melchor Ocampo

Moderate

Air quality now

AQI 69

1.5%
tree cover

89.5K more trees would reach 30% tree cover

Satellite image Sep 21, 2026

Across the country

How clean is the air across Mexico today?

None of the 114 measured cities is over AQI 100 today, and 46% have Good air. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

114 measured cities

  • Good53 (46%)
  • Moderate61 (54%)

Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.

In aggregate

Mexico in numbers

Every figure below is read the same way over the same 2 km area per city, so they add up and compare like for like. Averaged across the 114 of 114 cities measured so far in Mexico.

Average air quality
AQI 50Mean of the latest reading per city
Average tree cover
14.6%105 of 114 below their target
Trees counted
5.1MAcross every measured area
More trees needed
5.7MTo bring each area to its target

Against everywhere else

How does Mexico compare with other countries?

Right now the cities of Mexico average cleaner air than 46% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and more tree cover than 29%.

Cleaner air than…

Mexico
Beats 46%

More tree cover than…

Mexico
Beats 29%

See the most polluted and cleanest air rankings for every country.

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Mexico lost?

Since 2001, Mexico has lost about 5.46 million hectares of forest (about 55,000 km²): 10% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (80%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.

Forest lost since 2001
5.46 million haabout 55,000 km²
Share of its forest
10%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
4.39 million hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest lost each year in Mexico, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year in Mexico, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.332K

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year in Mexico, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
2001142,000 ha17,100 ha159,000 ha
2002140,000 ha19,400 ha159,000 ha
2003137,000 ha16,400 ha153,000 ha
2004154,000 ha16,800 ha170,000 ha
2005188,000 ha19,100 ha208,000 ha
2006138,000 ha42,000 ha180,000 ha
2007202,000 ha17,700 ha219,000 ha
2008160,000 ha25,300 ha185,000 ha
2009236,000 ha45,700 ha282,000 ha
2010148,000 ha19,000 ha167,000 ha
2011148,000 ha39,100 ha187,000 ha
2012150,000 ha25,400 ha175,000 ha
2013178,000 ha41,600 ha220,000 ha
2014151,000 ha20,800 ha171,000 ha
2015161,000 ha37,100 ha198,000 ha
2016231,000 ha44,100 ha275,000 ha
2017246,000 ha54,000 ha300,000 ha
2018224,000 ha44,400 ha268,000 ha
2019259,000 ha69,700 ha329,000 ha
2020224,000 ha76,600 ha300,000 ha
2021141,000 ha49,000 ha190,000 ha
2022135,000 ha44,400 ha180,000 ha
2023183,000 ha45,200 ha228,000 ha
2024179,000 ha153,000 ha332,000 ha
2025135,000 ha90,800 ha225,000 ha

Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 231,000 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 294,000 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2024, when about 332,000 hectares of forest were lost.

What is causing deforestation in Mexico?

  • Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good79% · 4.29 million ha
  • Wildfirescan grow back9.7% · 530,000 ha
  • Shifting farmingcan grow back5.5% · 298,000 ha

Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, logging, towns and roads, mining and energy, unknown causes.

Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.

Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. How it's measured

Mexico as a whole

34.2% of Mexico was forested as of 2024, against a 30% benchmark. That already clears the benchmark — the city reports above show where cover is still thin locally. Source: World Bank (FAO).

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Every city we track in Mexico

114 cities, A–Z

Clean-air buying guides

Cleaner air at home in Mexico

Picked by tested clean-air delivery rate (CADR), noise and running cost, from independent test labels. No brand pays to be listed.

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Frequently asked

Air quality in Mexico: your questions answered

What is the air quality in Mexico today?

Right now the 114 cities Airleaf measures in Mexico average AQI 50 (good). The worst air is in Monterrey, at AQI 96, and the cleanest in Reynosa, at AQI 20. At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the average is AQI 68 across 43 cities. None of the 114 measured cities is over AQI 100 today, and 46% have Good air.

Which city in Mexico has the worst air right now?

Monterrey, at AQI 96 (Moderate) on the US EPA index. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.

Which city in Mexico has the cleanest air right now?

Reynosa, at AQI 20 (Good). Both lists rank current readings, from ground stations wherever Mexico has at least three cities with one.

Is the air in Mexico safe to breathe today?

It depends on the city. 53 cities are Good, 61 cities are Moderate. At the national average of AQI 50: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

How much forest has Mexico lost since 2001?

About 5.46 million ha from 2001 to 2025, 10% of the forest it had in 2000, from the University of Maryland's yearly satellite maps of forest loss. 4.39 million ha of it was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.

Which city in Mexico has the most trees?

Teziutlan, with 52.6% tree cover within 2 km of its center, measured from Sentinel-2 satellite images.

How does Airleaf measure air quality in Mexico?

Each city's reading is the US EPA air quality index, from ground monitoring stations where one has reported recently nearby, and from the CAMS atmospheric model elsewhere; each city's report says which. Tree cover is measured over the same 2 km radius in every city, so the cities compare like for like.

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