City report · Colorado, United States
Denver Air quality today
Air quality in Denver currently reads AQI 29 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 29
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 4.8
- tree cover
- 12.8%
- trees in this area
- 40.1K
- more trees needed
- 53.9K
Measured across a 1.2 mi (2 km) radius around Capitol Hill, Denver, CO, USA (4.9 sq mi), from a satellite image of Sep 9, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Denver · AQI 29 (Good)
Denver's tree count comes to 40,132 trees across 4.8 sq mi (12.54 km²) of land, 17 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 53,927 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Denver today: AQI 29, Good
Main pollutant: NO₂ · Observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Denver - CAMP - 2105, 0.8 mi (1.3 km) away · median of 4 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
4.8
PM10
—
NO₂
58.5
O₃
16.7
SO₂
3.7
CO
973.8
Data: OpenAQ · AirNow
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Denver's daily AQI at 52 on average, from 47 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 81 on Nov 5.
Where Denver stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Denver: Critically low
12.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 4.8 sq mi (12.54 km²) of land.
Trees in this area
40,132
Target trees
94,059
More trees needed
53,927
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,186 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Denver lost?
There was very little forest around Denver in 2000, about 146 acres (59 hectares), and about 6 acres (2 hectares) of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2018: satellite photo from September 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Acres of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Denver?
- Towns and roadscleared for good50% · 3 acres (1 ha)
- Unknown causescause unknown46% · 3 acres (1 ha)
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 9,220 acres (3,730 ha)
- Forest in 2020
- 10,400 acres (4,190 ha)
- Overall change
- +1,130 acres (456 ha)more forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Denver grew from about 9,220 acres (3,730 hectares) to 10,400 acres (4,190 hectares), a net gain of about 1,130 acres (456 hectares) (+12%). New forest grew on about 1,150 acres (467 hectares), while 27 acres (11 hectares) were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
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. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Denver
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Aurora13.1 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 14%
- Air quality
- 23
- Thornton14.4 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 10%
- Air quality
- 132
- Centennial20.0 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 19%
- Air quality
- 34
- Boulder39.2 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 38%
- Air quality
- 14
- Greeley79.6 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 23%
- Air quality
- 25
- Fort Collins94.5 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 38%
- Air quality
- 37
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Frequently asked
Questions about Denver
What is the air quality (AQI) in Denver right now?
The latest reading for Denver shows an AQI of 29 (Good), measured Nov 11, 08:00 local time by 4 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Denver - CAMP - 2105, 0.8 mi (1.3 km) away). The main pollutant is NO₂. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Denver today?
At AQI 29 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Denver been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Denver's daily AQI at 52 on average, from 47 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 81 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Denver lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Denver in 2000, about 146 acres (59 hectares), and about 6 acres (2 hectares) of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Denver grew from about 9,220 acres (3,730 hectares) to 10,400 acres (4,190 hectares), a net gain of about 1,130 acres (456 hectares) (+12%). New forest grew on about 1,150 acres (467 hectares), while 27 acres (11 hectares) were lost.
What is the tree count in Denver?
Denver has an estimated 40,132 trees across the 4.8 sq mi (12.54 km²) of land measured — 12.8% tree cover, 17 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Denver need?
Denver needs roughly 53,927 more trees to close a 17-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,186 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Denver's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Capitol Hill, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 1.2 mi (2 km) radius around Capitol Hill; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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