City report · Arizona, United States
Tucson Air quality today
Air quality in Tucson currently reads AQI 13 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 13
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 1.6
- tree cover
- 12.8%
- trees in this area
- 40.2K
- more trees needed
- 54.0K
Measured across a 1.2 mi (2 km) radius around El Encanto, Tucson, AZ 85716, USA (4.9 sq mi), from a satellite image of Sep 5, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Tucson · AQI 13 (Good)
Tucson's tree count comes to 40,212 trees across 4.9 sq mi (12.57 km²), 17 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 54,035 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Tucson today: AQI 13, Good
Main pollutant: PM10 · Observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Broadway/Kolb, 5.2 mi (8.4 km) away · median of 6 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
1.6
PM10
14.5
NO₂
20.7
O₃
14.7
SO₂
0.0
CO
229.1
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, 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 Tucson's daily AQI at 22 on average, from 10 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 10.
Where Tucson stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Tucson: Critically low
12.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 4.9 sq mi (12.57 km²).
Trees in this area
40,212
Target trees
94,247
More trees needed
54,035
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,189 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Tucson lost?
There was almost no forest around Tucson in 2000, so there has been almost nothing to lose since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
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. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Tucson
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Nogales101.5 km
Mexico
- Tree cover
- 7%
- Air quality
- 85
- Chandler147.8 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 6%
- Air quality
- 23
- Mesa157.6 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 10%
- Air quality
- 36
- Tempe161.4 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 26
- Scottsdale169.5 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 8%
- Air quality
- 36
- Phoenix173.5 km
United States
- Tree cover
- 3%
- Air quality
- 67
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Frequently asked
Questions about Tucson
What is the air quality (AQI) in Tucson right now?
The latest reading for Tucson shows an AQI of 13 (Good), measured Nov 11, 08:00 local time by 6 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Broadway/Kolb, 5.2 mi (8.4 km) away). The main pollutant is PM10. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Tucson today?
At AQI 13 (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 Tucson been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Tucson's daily AQI at 22 on average, from 10 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 10. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Tucson lost since 2001?
There was almost no forest around Tucson in 2000, so there has been almost nothing to lose since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
What is the tree count in Tucson?
Tucson has an estimated 40,212 trees across the 4.9 sq mi (12.57 km²) measured — 12.8% tree cover, 17 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Tucson need?
Tucson needs roughly 54,035 more trees to close a 17-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,189 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Tucson's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near El Encanto, 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 El Encanto; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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