SmogRank / Canberra / Melbourne
Canberra vs Melbourne: PM2.5 compared
Over the last year, Canberra and Melbourne had about the same air: PM2.5 averaged 6.2 and 6.3 µg/m³, on the 285 days both cities were measured. Canberra had the dirtier air on 138 of those days, Melbourne on 144. Canberra was over the WHO's daily guideline of 15 µg/m³ on 5 of them, Melbourne on 11.
Right now
The last year, day by day
Month by month
Year by year
| Year | Canberra | Melbourne | Days Canberra was worse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 so far | 36 | 36 | 113 |
| 2025 | 30 | 27 | 32 |
| 2024 | 39 | 33 | 177 |
| 2023 | 23 | 23 | 16 |
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
Canberra
- 4 Oct 20267924.0 µg/m³
- 10 Jun 20267019.5 µg/m³
- 20 Apr 20267019.4 µg/m³
Melbourne
- 25 Jan 20268929.6 µg/m³
- 9 Jul 20267723.3 µg/m³
- 8 Jul 20267421.5 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
Canberra
Side by side with Tuggeranong (the nearest), Gujranwala (the world's worst on 30 days).
Melbourne
Side by side with Laverton (the nearest), Gujranwala (the world's worst on 30 days).
Use this page
SmogRank, PM2.5 daily means compared, Canberra and Melbourne, 10 Oct 2025 – 9 Oct 2026, smogrank.com/compare/au-canberra/au-melbourne (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).