Air quality comparison · Vietnam, 127 km apart
Cần Thơ vs Ho Chi Minh City Air quality index (AQI) today
Cần Thơ has cleaner air than Ho Chi Minh City right now: AQI 31 (Good) against 44 (Good).
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, Cần Thơ averaged AQI 69 against 79, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Cần Thơ has lost more forest since 2001. Cần Thơ has more tree cover.
Vietnam
AQI 31
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 4.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 16:00 local
Vietnam
AQI 44
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 8 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 00:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Cần Thơ31Ho Chi Minh City44
Head to head
Cần Thơ vs Ho Chi Minh City at a glance
Cần Thơ is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Ho Chi Minh City on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Cần Thơ | Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 31 (better) | 44 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 4.7 (better) | 8 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 69 (better) | 79 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 50 ha | 50 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 22.0% (better) | 9.7% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 19.6K (better) | 63.8K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Cần Thơ and Ho Chi Minh City right now?
Cần Thơ has cleaner air than Ho Chi Minh City right now: AQI 31 (Good) against 44 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Ho Chi Minh City is read from a nearby ground station and Cần Thơ is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Cần ThơHo Chi Minh City
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).
Cần Thơ: Estimate · model corrected with 4 station cities within 145 km, e.g. Can Giuoc and Ho Chi Minh City. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 145 km, US EPA index.
Ho Chi Minh City: Ground station · CMT8, 6.1 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Thomas Versteeg.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Cần Thơ averaged AQI 69 against 79, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 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
- Cần Thơ6Ho Chi Minh City1
- Average AQI
- Cần Thơ69Ho Chi Minh City79
- Worst day, AQI
- Cần Thơ76Ho Chi Minh City98
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Cần Thơ | Ho Chi Minh City |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 69 | 70 |
| Nov 6 | 70 | 78 |
| Nov 7 | 76 | 72 |
| Nov 8 | 71 | 77 |
| Nov 9 | 70 | 79 |
| Nov 10 | 70 | 76 |
| Nov 11 | 60 | 98 |
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 Cần Thơ and Ho Chi Minh City today?
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Both are in the same EPA band today (Good), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
A good day to be active outside.
Windows
Open them to air the house.
Masks
Not needed.
Air purifier
Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Cần Thơ and Ho Chi Minh City compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Cần Thơ's air is cleaner than 79% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Ho Chi Minh City's is cleaner than 66%. Within Vietnam, that is 63% and 37% of its 114 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Cần Thơ
- Beats 79%
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Beats 66%
More tree cover than…
- Cần Thơ
- Beats 51%
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Beats 20%
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, Cần Thơ or Ho Chi Minh City?
Cần Thơ has lost more: about 50 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 50 ha around Ho Chi Minh City. 30 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: 2010, with 8 ha lost.
Worst year: 2001, with 17 ha lost.
| Cần Thơ | Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 50 ha | 50 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 2.7% (better) | 9% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 30 ha (better) | 37 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (35%) | Towns and roads (42%) |
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.
Cần Thơ
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Ho Chi Minh City
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Cần Thơ or Ho Chi Minh City?
Cần Thơ has more tree cover: 22.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.7% around Ho Chi Minh City, or about 53,910 trees against 30,473.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Cần Thơ | Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 53.9K (better) | 30.5K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 19.6K (better) | 63.8K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg (better) | 670K 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
Cần Thơ vs Ho Chi Minh City: your questions answered
Is Cần Thơ cleaner than Ho Chi Minh City?
On air quality, yes, right now: Cần Thơ reads AQI 31 against 44, a gap of 13 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, Cần Thơ averaged AQI 69 against 79, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Cần Thơ and Ho Chi Minh City today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Cần Thơ reads AQI 31 and Ho Chi Minh City reads AQI 44.
Which has lost more forest, Cần Thơ or Ho Chi Minh City?
Cần Thơ has lost more: about 50 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 50 ha around Ho Chi Minh City. 30 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Cần Thơ or Ho Chi Minh City?
Cần Thơ has more tree cover: 22.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.7% around Ho Chi Minh City, or about 53,910 trees against 30,473. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Cần Thơ and Ho Chi Minh City need?
Cần Thơ needs about 19,604 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Ho Chi Minh City about 63,774 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Cần Thơ and Ho Chi Minh City 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. Ho Chi Minh City is read from a nearby ground station and Cần Thơ 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 Cần Thơ vs Ho Chi Minh City 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 (Apr 24, 2026 and Apr 26, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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