SmogRank / Köln / Munich

Köln vs Munich: PM2.5 compared

Over the last year, Munich's air was 12% more polluted than Köln's: PM2.5 averaged 10.2 µg/m³ against 9.1, on the 315 days both cities were measured. Munich had the dirtier air on 197 of those days, Köln on 112. Munich was over the WHO's daily guideline of 15 µg/m³ on 46 of them, Köln on 43.

Right now

Köln#313on the 24-hour board of 1,611, at 58 US AQI (13.1 µg/m³)
Munich–not on the 24-hour board right now

The last year, day by day

Köln
Munich
Each city's daily mean from 6 Oct 2025 to 5 Oct 2026, one stripe a day, coloured by band. A blank stripe is a day without a daily mean.

Month by month

15Köln, Nov 2025: 8.9 µg/m³Munich, Nov 2025: 9.3 µg/m³Nov 2025Köln, Dec: 11.2 µg/m³Munich, Dec: 11.0 µg/m³DecKöln, Jan 2026: 16.3 µg/m³Munich, Jan 2026: 18.2 µg/m³Jan 2026Köln, Feb: 9.4 µg/m³Munich, Feb: 9.9 µg/m³FebKöln, Mar: 12.6 µg/m³Munich, Mar: 13.8 µg/m³MarKöln, Apr: 8.1 µg/m³Munich, Apr: 8.7 µg/m³AprKöln, May: 7.0 µg/m³Munich, May: 7.4 µg/m³MayKöln, Jun: 8.2 µg/m³Munich, Jun: 9.6 µg/m³JunKöln, Jul: 6.9 µg/m³Munich, Jul: 8.4 µg/m³JulKöln, Aug: 5.9 µg/m³Munich, Aug: 8.9 µg/m³AugKöln, Sep: 5.5 µg/m³Munich, Sep: 8.7 µg/m³SepOct
Monthly means in µg/m³ over the days both cities were measured. Solid: Köln. Faded: Munich. A month shows once both share 10 such days. Dashed line: the WHO daily guideline.

Year by year

YearKölnMunichDays both measuredDays Köln was worse
2026 so far515423775
20255253317131
20244952264117
20235148239123

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

Köln

Munich

Daily means in US AQI, over the days both cities were measured in the last year. Each date opens that day's world board.

Compare either city with another

Köln

Side by side with Leverkusen, Gujranwala.

Munich

Side by side with Herrsching am Ammersee, Augsburg, Gujranwala.

Use this page

SmogRank, PM2.5 daily means compared, Köln and Munich, 8 Oct 2025 – 5 Oct 2026, smogrank.com/compare/de-koeln/de-munich (accessed 6 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 2026-10-06 20:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the US AQI PM2.5 sub-index.