Air quality comparison · India, 32 km apart
Bokāro vs Dhanbad Air quality index (AQI) today
Dhanbad has cleaner air than Bokāro right now: AQI 105 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 135 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 178. Bokāro has more tree cover.
India
AQI 135
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 41.7 µg/m³2.8× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 12:30 local
India
AQI 105
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 37 µg/m³2.5× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 21:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Bokāro135Dhanbad105
Head to head
Bokāro vs Dhanbad at a glance
Dhanbad is ahead on 2 of 5 measures, and Bokāro on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Bokāro | Dhanbad | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 135 | 105 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 41.7 | 37 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 178 | 178 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 65.3% (better) | 43.1% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Bokāro and Dhanbad right now?
Dhanbad has cleaner air than Bokāro right now: AQI 105 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 135 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Bokāro's PM2.5 is about 2.8× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Dhanbad's PM2.5 is about 2.5× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Dhanbad is read from a nearby ground station and Bokāro is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
BokāroDhanbad
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).
Bokāro: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 85 km, e.g. Dhanbad and Kulti. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 85 km, US EPA index.
Dhanbad: Ground station · Tata Stadium - Jorapokhar - JSPCB, 10.1 km away. Data: OpenAQ · CPCB, Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India (GODL-India).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 178. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Bokāro2Dhanbad3
- Average AQI
- Bokāro178Dhanbad178
- Worst day, AQI
- Bokāro185Dhanbad195
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Bokāro | Dhanbad |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 185 | 183 |
| Nov 6 | 182 | 182 |
| Nov 7 | 183 | 185 |
| Nov 8 | 183 | 183 |
| Nov 9 | 156 | 152 |
| Nov 10 | 177 | 169 |
| Nov 11 | 180 | 195 |
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 Bokāro and Dhanbad today?
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Both are in the same EPA band today (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Bokāro and Dhanbad compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Bokāro's air is cleaner than 13% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Dhanbad's is cleaner than 20%. Within India, that is 56% and 69% of its 471 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Bokāro
- Beats 13%
- Dhanbad
- Beats 20%
More tree cover than…
- Bokāro
- Beats 98%
- Dhanbad
- Beats 87%
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.
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.
Bokāro
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Dhanbad
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Bokāro or Dhanbad?
Bokāro has more tree cover: 65.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 43.1% around Dhanbad, or about 193,248 trees against 134,319.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Bokāro | Dhanbad | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 193K (better) | 134K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 4.3M kg (better) | 3.0M kg |
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
Bokāro vs Dhanbad: your questions answered
Is Dhanbad cleaner than Bokāro?
On air quality, yes, right now: Dhanbad reads AQI 105 against 135, a gap of 30 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 178.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Bokāro and Dhanbad today?
The advice is the same for both today. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Bokāro reads AQI 135 and Dhanbad reads AQI 105.
Which has more trees, Bokāro or Dhanbad?
Bokāro has more tree cover: 65.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 43.1% around Dhanbad, or about 193,248 trees against 134,319. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Bokāro and Dhanbad need?
Bokāro needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Dhanbad about 0 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 32 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Bokāro and Dhanbad 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. Dhanbad is read from a nearby ground station and Bokāro 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 Bokāro vs Dhanbad 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 (Oct 23, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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