Air quality comparison · Venezuela, 518 km apart
Caracas vs Maracaibo Air quality index (AQI) today
Caracas has cleaner air than Maracaibo right now: AQI 33 (Good) against 64 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Maracaibo averaged AQI 52 against 65, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Caracas has lost more forest since 2001. Caracas has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Caracas33Maracaibo64
Head to head
Caracas vs Maracaibo at a glance
Caracas is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Maracaibo on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Caracas | Maracaibo | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 33 (better) | 64 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.9 (better) | 15.9 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 65 | 52 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 297 ha | 18 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 29.5% (better) | 8.2% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 1.6K (better) | 49.5K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Caracas and Maracaibo right now?
Caracas has cleaner air than Maracaibo right now: AQI 33 (Good) against 64 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Maracaibo's PM2.5 is about 1.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
CaracasMaracaibo
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).
Caracas: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Maracaibo: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Maracaibo averaged AQI 52 against 65, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Caracas1Maracaibo5
- Average AQI
- Caracas65Maracaibo52
- Worst day, AQI
- Caracas80Maracaibo60
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Caracas | Maracaibo |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 80 | 42 |
| Nov 6 | 67 | 60 |
| Nov 7 | 57 | 51 |
| Nov 8 | 58 | 47 |
| Nov 9 | 68 | 54 |
| Nov 10 | 57 | 60 |
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 Caracas and Maracaibo today?
Caracas (AQI 33, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Maracaibo (AQI 64, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Caracas
- A good day to be active outside.
- Maracaibo
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Caracas
- Open them to air the house.
- Maracaibo
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Caracas
- Not needed.
- Maracaibo
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Caracas
- Not needed.
- Maracaibo
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Caracas and Maracaibo compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Caracas's air is cleaner than 76% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Maracaibo's is cleaner than 43%. Within Venezuela, that is 57% and 9% of its 57 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Caracas
- Beats 76%
- Maracaibo
- Beats 43%
More tree cover than…
- Caracas
- Beats 67%
- Maracaibo
- Beats 17%
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, Caracas or Maracaibo?
Caracas has lost more: about 297 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 18 ha around Maracaibo. 252 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: 2015, with 33 ha lost.
Worst year: 2017, with 15 ha lost.
| Caracas | Maracaibo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 297 ha | 18 ha (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 252 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (69%) | Storms, floods and other natural causes (80%) |
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.
Caracas
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Maracaibo
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Caracas or Maracaibo?
Caracas has more tree cover: 29.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 8.2% around Maracaibo, or about 92,677 trees against 18,625.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Caracas | Maracaibo | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 92.7K (better) | 18.6K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 1.6K (better) | 49.5K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.0M kg (better) | 410K 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
Caracas vs Maracaibo: your questions answered
Is Caracas cleaner than Maracaibo?
On air quality, yes, right now: Caracas reads AQI 33 against 64, a gap of 31 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Maracaibo averaged AQI 52 against 65, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Caracas and Maracaibo today?
In Caracas, at AQI 33: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Maracaibo, at AQI 64: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Caracas or Maracaibo?
Caracas has lost more: about 297 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 18 ha around Maracaibo. 252 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Caracas or Maracaibo?
Caracas has more tree cover: 29.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 8.2% around Maracaibo, or about 92,677 trees against 18,625. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Caracas and Maracaibo need?
Caracas needs about 1,571 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Maracaibo about 49,516 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Caracas and Maracaibo 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 are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Caracas vs Maracaibo 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 8, 2026 and Sep 6, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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