Air quality comparison · Malaysia, 16 km apart
Bukit Rahman Putra vs Kuala Lumpur Air quality index (AQI) today
Kuala Lumpur has cleaner air than Bukit Rahman Putra right now: AQI 73 (Moderate) against 80 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 88. Bukit Rahman Putra has lost more forest since 2001. Kuala Lumpur has more tree cover.
Malaysia
AQI 80
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 24.8 µg/m³1.7× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 02:00 local
Malaysia
AQI 73
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 20.7 µg/m³1.4× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 01:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Bukit Rahman Putra80Kuala Lumpur73
Head to head
Bukit Rahman Putra vs Kuala Lumpur at a glance
Kuala Lumpur is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Bukit Rahman Putra on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Bukit Rahman Putra | Kuala Lumpur | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 80 | 73 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 24.8 | 20.7 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 88 | 88 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 7,500 ha | 1,250 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 38.0% | 44.2% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Bukit Rahman Putra and Kuala Lumpur right now?
Kuala Lumpur has cleaner air than Bukit Rahman Putra right now: AQI 73 (Moderate) against 80 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Bukit Rahman Putra's PM2.5 is about 1.7× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Kuala Lumpur's PM2.5 is about 1.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
Bukit Rahman PutraKuala Lumpur
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).
Bukit Rahman Putra: Ground station · Zenia, 8.3 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Daniel.
Kuala Lumpur: Ground station · Kuala Lumpur, 200 m away · median of 3 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 88. The two are close enough that the air model behind these daily figures barely separates them, so their lines nearly overlap.
- Cleaner days
- Bukit Rahman Putra1Kuala Lumpur0
- Average AQI
- Bukit Rahman Putra88Kuala Lumpur88
- Worst day, AQI
- Bukit Rahman Putra92Kuala Lumpur94
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Bukit Rahman Putra | Kuala Lumpur |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 92 | 92 |
| Nov 6 | 90 | 90 |
| Nov 7 | 83 | 83 |
| Nov 8 | 87 | 87 |
| Nov 9 | 83 | 83 |
| Nov 10 | 91 | 94 |
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 Bukit Rahman Putra and Kuala Lumpur today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Bukit Rahman Putra and Kuala Lumpur compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Bukit Rahman Putra's air is cleaner than 30% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Kuala Lumpur's is cleaner than 35%. Within Malaysia, that is 20% and 31% of its 56 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Bukit Rahman Putra
- Beats 30%
- Kuala Lumpur
- Beats 35%
More tree cover than…
- Bukit Rahman Putra
- Beats 81%
- Kuala Lumpur
- Beats 88%
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, Bukit Rahman Putra or Kuala Lumpur?
Bukit Rahman Putra has lost more: about 7,500 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,250 ha around Kuala Lumpur. 7,450 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: 2017, with 666 ha lost.
Worst year: 2004, with 165 ha lost.
| Bukit Rahman Putra | Kuala Lumpur | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 7,500 ha | 1,250 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 45% | 25% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 7,450 ha | 1,250 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (68%) | Towns and roads (99%) |
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.
Bukit Rahman Putra
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
Kuala Lumpur
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km west of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Bukit Rahman Putra or Kuala Lumpur?
Kuala Lumpur has more tree cover: 44.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 38.0% around Bukit Rahman Putra, or about 137,748 trees against 119,261.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Bukit Rahman Putra | Kuala Lumpur | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 119K | 138K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.6M kg | 3.0M 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
Bukit Rahman Putra vs Kuala Lumpur: your questions answered
Is Kuala Lumpur cleaner than Bukit Rahman Putra?
On air quality, yes, right now: Kuala Lumpur reads AQI 73 against 80, a gap of 7 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 88.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Bukit Rahman Putra and Kuala Lumpur today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Bukit Rahman Putra reads AQI 80 and Kuala Lumpur reads AQI 73.
Which has lost more forest, Bukit Rahman Putra or Kuala Lumpur?
Bukit Rahman Putra has lost more: about 7,500 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,250 ha around Kuala Lumpur. 7,450 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Bukit Rahman Putra or Kuala Lumpur?
Kuala Lumpur has more tree cover: 44.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 38.0% around Bukit Rahman Putra, or about 137,748 trees against 119,261. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Bukit Rahman Putra and Kuala Lumpur need?
Bukit Rahman Putra needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Kuala Lumpur about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 16 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 Bukit Rahman Putra and Kuala Lumpur 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. Both readings come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Bukit Rahman Putra vs Kuala Lumpur 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 (Aug 15, 2026 and Aug 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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