United States · New York · 12 places
Air quality in New York today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Albany has the cleanest air of the 6 New York cities we track (AQI 11, Good), and New York the worst (AQI 76, Moderate). Yonkers has the most tree cover, at 45.9% — #22 of 278 large US cities.
Every place is measured the same way, over the same 1.2 mi (2 km) around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
Average right now
AQI 46
Good
- places tracked
- 12
- average tree cover
- 28.2%
- US cities: 25.1%
- worst air now: New York
- 76
- cleanest air now: Albany
- 11
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
New York · average AQI 46
Air quality today across New York, city by city
| New York | 76Moderate | 14.9% | 24.5K | #190 of 278 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | 33Good | 22.9% | 22.1K | — |
| Queens | 32Good | 12.4% | 55.3K | — |
| Manhattan | 33Good | 40.4% | — | — |
| The Bronx | 26Good | 30.1% | — | — |
| Staten Island | 54Moderate | 42.7% | — | — |
| Buffalo | 57Moderate | 16.2% | 34.6K | #182 of 278 |
| Rochester | 48Good | 31.9% | — | #81 of 278 |
| Yonkers | 23Good | 45.9% | — | #22 of 278 |
| Syracuse | 60Moderate | 27.8% | 6.9K | #114 of 278 |
| Amherst | 57Moderate | 38.8% | — | — |
| Albany | 11Good | 32.5% | — | #77 of 278 |
Air quality is the US AQI from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where available, otherwise the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, refreshed hourly. Tree cover is measured within 1.2 mi (2 km) of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery. The US greenness rank covers cities of 100,000+ people; see the full ranking.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has New York lost?
Since 2001, New York has lost about 504,000 acres (204,000 hectares) of forest (about 2,000 km²): 2.4% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 114,000 acres (46,200 hectares) (23%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 504,000 acres (204,000 ha)about 2,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 2.4%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 114,000 acres (46,200 ha)deforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Acres of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 5,240 acres (2,120 ha) | 10,100 acres (4,100 ha) | 15,400 acres (6,220 ha) |
| 2002 | 3,270 acres (1,320 ha) | 8,890 acres (3,600 ha) | 12,200 acres (4,920 ha) |
| 2003 | 1,660 acres (671 ha) | 6,900 acres (2,790 ha) | 8,560 acres (3,460 ha) |
| 2004 | 5,360 acres (2,170 ha) | 14,100 acres (5,690 ha) | 19,400 acres (7,860 ha) |
| 2005 | 4,320 acres (1,750 ha) | 16,800 acres (6,800 ha) | 21,100 acres (8,550 ha) |
| 2006 | 4,170 acres (1,690 ha) | 12,000 acres (4,840 ha) | 16,100 acres (6,530 ha) |
| 2007 | 5,350 acres (2,170 ha) | 12,400 acres (5,040 ha) | 17,800 acres (7,200 ha) |
| 2008 | 3,710 acres (1,500 ha) | 12,400 acres (5,030 ha) | 16,100 acres (6,530 ha) |
| 2009 | 3,120 acres (1,260 ha) | 9,280 acres (3,760 ha) | 12,400 acres (5,020 ha) |
| 2010 | 4,140 acres (1,680 ha) | 11,600 acres (4,700 ha) | 15,700 acres (6,370 ha) |
| 2011 | 2,870 acres (1,160 ha) | 7,200 acres (2,910 ha) | 10,100 acres (4,080 ha) |
| 2012 | 5,100 acres (2,060 ha) | 15,500 acres (6,290 ha) | 20,600 acres (8,360 ha) |
| 2013 | 3,180 acres (1,290 ha) | 9,620 acres (3,890 ha) | 12,800 acres (5,180 ha) |
| 2014 | 3,750 acres (1,520 ha) | 14,500 acres (5,880 ha) | 18,300 acres (7,390 ha) |
| 2015 | 4,270 acres (1,730 ha) | 14,700 acres (5,970 ha) | 19,000 acres (7,690 ha) |
| 2016 | 6,340 acres (2,560 ha) | 19,400 acres (7,860 ha) | 25,700 acres (10,400 ha) |
| 2017 | 5,840 acres (2,370 ha) | 26,000 acres (10,500 ha) | 31,900 acres (12,900 ha) |
| 2018 | 6,830 acres (2,760 ha) | 29,400 acres (11,900 ha) | 36,200 acres (14,600 ha) |
| 2019 | 5,130 acres (2,080 ha) | 23,000 acres (9,320 ha) | 28,200 acres (11,400 ha) |
| 2020 | 5,490 acres (2,220 ha) | 20,300 acres (8,220 ha) | 25,800 acres (10,400 ha) |
| 2021 | 4,820 acres (1,950 ha) | 19,000 acres (7,700 ha) | 23,800 acres (9,650 ha) |
| 2022 | 6,120 acres (2,480 ha) | 25,300 acres (10,300 ha) | 31,500 acres (12,700 ha) |
| 2023 | 4,990 acres (2,020 ha) | 19,800 acres (8,000 ha) | 24,800 acres (10,000 ha) |
| 2024 | 4,720 acres (1,910 ha) | 13,600 acres (5,490 ha) | 18,300 acres (7,410 ha) |
| 2025 | 4,400 acres (1,780 ha) | 18,000 acres (7,270 ha) | 22,400 acres (9,050 ha) |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 24,100 acres (9,770 hectares) a year in 2021–2025, against 29,600 acres (12,000 hectares) a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2018, when about 36,200 acres (14,600 hectares) of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in New York?
- Loggingcan grow back71% · 359,000 acres (145,000 ha)
- Towns and roadscleared for good13% · 67,000 acres (27,100 ha)
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good8.5% · 43,000 acres (17,400 ha)
Also: mining and energy, wildfires, storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
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