Air quality comparison · Indonesia, 1533 km apart
Bandung vs Medan Air quality index (AQI) today
Bandung has cleaner air than Medan right now: AQI 153 (Unhealthy) against 154 (Unhealthy).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Medan averaged AQI 97 against 158, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Medan has lost more forest since 2001. Medan has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Bandung153Medan154
Head to head
Bandung vs Medan at a glance
Medan is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Bandung on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Bandung | Medan | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 153 (better) | 154 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 63.3 | 59.4 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 158 | 97 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 154 ha (better) | 505 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 12.3% | 15.7% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 87.0K | 76.3K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Bandung and Medan right now?
Bandung has cleaner air than Medan right now: AQI 153 (Unhealthy) against 154 (Unhealthy). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Bandung's PM2.5 is about 4.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Medan's PM2.5 is about 4.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Medan is read from a nearby ground station and Bandung is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
BandungMedan
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Bandung: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Medan: Ground station · Medan, Indonesia, 20.4 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, BMKG | Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi dan Geofisika.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Medan averaged AQI 97 against 158, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Bandung0Medan7
- Average AQI
- Bandung158Medan97
- Worst day, AQI
- Bandung171Medan111
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Bandung | Medan |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 151 | 93 |
| Nov 6 | 161 | 103 |
| Nov 7 | 168 | 110 |
| Nov 8 | 157 | 104 |
| Nov 9 | 171 | 81 |
| Nov 10 | 156 | 111 |
| Nov 11 | 145 | 79 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Bandung and Medan today?
Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so. Both are in the same EPA band today (Unhealthy), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it.
Windows
Keep them closed.
Masks
Wear an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
Run one.
Against everywhere else
How do Bandung and Medan compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Bandung's air is cleaner than 10% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Medan's is cleaner than 10%. Within Indonesia, that is 17% and 15% of its 156 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Bandung
- Beats 10%
- Medan
- Beats 10%
More tree cover than…
- Bandung
- Beats 27%
- Medan
- Beats 36%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Bandung or Medan?
Medan has lost more: about 505 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 154 ha around Bandung. 499 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2006, with 29 ha lost.
Worst year: 2014, with 149 ha lost.
| Bandung | Medan | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 154 ha (better) | 505 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3.5% (better) | 22% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 142 ha (better) | 499 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (62%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (50%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Bandung
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Medan
2021: satellite photo from February 2021 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Bandung or Medan?
Medan has more tree cover: 15.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 12.3% around Bandung, or about 49,323 trees against 38,642.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Bandung | Medan | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 38.6K | 49.3K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 87.0K | 76.3K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 850K kg | 1.1M kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Bandung vs Medan: your questions answered
Is Bandung cleaner than Medan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Bandung reads AQI 153 against 154, a gap of 1 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Medan averaged AQI 97 against 158, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Bandung and Medan today?
The advice is the same for both today. Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so. Bandung reads AQI 153 and Medan reads AQI 154.
Which has lost more forest, Bandung or Medan?
Medan has lost more: about 505 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 154 ha around Bandung. 499 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Bandung or Medan?
Medan has more tree cover: 15.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 12.3% around Bandung, or about 49,323 trees against 38,642. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Bandung and Medan need?
Bandung needs about 87,022 more to reach its canopy target of 40%, and Medan about 76,341 to reach 40%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Bandung and Medan measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Medan is read from a nearby ground station and Bandung is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Bandung vs Medan comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 17, 2026 and Sep 9, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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