Adelaide vs Canberra: PM2.5 compared

Over the last year, Canberra's air was about 1.9× as polluted as Adelaide's: PM2.5 averaged 6.4 µg/m³ against 3.4, on the 199 days both cities were measured. Canberra had the dirtier air on 157 of those days, Adelaide on 40. Canberra was over the WHO's daily guideline of 15 µg/m³ on 5 of them, Adelaide on 1.

Right now

Adelaide#1,325on the 24-hour board of 2,504, at 30 US AQI (5.4 µg/m³)

Canberra#1,420on the 24-hour board of 2,504, at 28 US AQI (5.0 µg/m³)

The last year, day by day

Adelaide

Canberra

Each city's daily mean from 10 Oct 2025 to 9 Oct 2026, one stripe a day, coloured by band. A blank stripe is a day without a daily mean.

Month by month

Monthly means in µg/m³ over the days both cities were measured. Solid: Adelaide. Faded: Canberra. A month shows once both share 10 such days. Dashed line: the WHO daily guideline, 15 µg/m³.

Year by year

Year	Adelaide	Canberra	Days both measured	Days Adelaide was worse
2026 so far	19	36	199	40
2025	18	29	61	13
2023	23	27	55	18

Means in US AQI over the days both cities were measured that year; a year shows once they share 30 such days.

Each city's worst days

Adelaide

28 May 20266516.8 µg/m³
15 Jul 20265913.3 µg/m³
27 Jun 20265813.0 µg/m³

Canberra

10 Jun 20267019.5 µg/m³
20 Apr 20267019.4 µg/m³
8 Jun 20266415.9 µg/m³

Daily means in US AQI, with µg/m³ beside them, since the index stops at its top value, over the days both cities were measured in the last year. Each date opens that day's world board.

Compare either city with another

Adelaide

Side by side with Grange (the nearest), Gujranwala (the world's worst on 30 days).

Canberra

Side by side with Tuggeranong (the nearest), Gujranwala (the world's worst on 30 days).

Use this page

SmogRank, PM2.5 daily means compared, Adelaide and Canberra, 10 Oct 2025 – 9 Oct 2026, smogrank.com/compare/au-adelaide/au-canberra (accessed 9 Oct 2026).

You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms. Raw monitor readings in bulk are published by OpenAQ, under each provider's licence.

The same rules as every SmogRank figure: reference monitors first, and a day counts with 18 measured hours. How we measure.

Updated 2026-10-09 20:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the US AQI PM2.5 sub-index. Some readings: Uzhydromet (Uzbekistan's Hydrometeorological Service); Department of Environment, Nepal; Vietnam's government monitors; Aurassure; Umhverfisstofnun (Environment Agency of Iceland); Love My Air (City and County of Denver), no reuse terms published (why we use them).