Air quality comparison · Colombia, 462 km apart
Cartagena vs Medellín Air quality index (AQI) today
Cartagena has cleaner air than Medellín right now: AQI 52 (Moderate) against 59 (Moderate).
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, Cartagena averaged AQI 37 against 43, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Medellín has lost more forest since 2001. Medellín has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Cartagena52Medellín59
Head to head
Cartagena vs Medellín at a glance
Cartagena is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Medellín on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Cartagena | Medellín | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 52 (better) | 59 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 9.3 (better) | 13.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 37 (better) | 43 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 785 ha (better) | 1,370 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 15.7% | 19.8% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 44.6K | 32.0K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Cartagena and Medellín right now?
Cartagena has cleaner air than Medellín right now: AQI 52 (Moderate) against 59 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Medellín is read from a nearby ground station and Cartagena is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
CartagenaMedellín
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).
Cartagena: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Medellín: Ground station · Villahermosa, Medellín, Colombia, 3 km away · median of 4 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Cartagena averaged AQI 37 against 43, 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
- Cartagena6Medellín1
- Average AQI
- Cartagena37Medellín43
- Worst day, AQI
- Cartagena53Medellín59
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Cartagena | Medellín |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 44 | 45 |
| Nov 5 | 40 | 48 |
| Nov 6 | 25 | 34 |
| Nov 7 | 28 | 29 |
| Nov 8 | 25 | 41 |
| Nov 9 | 43 | 42 |
| Nov 10 | 53 | 59 |
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 Cartagena and Medellín 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 Cartagena and Medellín compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Cartagena's air is cleaner than 59% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Medellín's is cleaner than 49%. Within Colombia, that is 53% and 23% of its 48 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Cartagena
- Beats 59%
- Medellín
- Beats 49%
More tree cover than…
- Cartagena
- Beats 36%
- Medellín
- Beats 46%
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, Cartagena or Medellín?
Medellín has lost more: about 1,370 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 785 ha around Cartagena. 1,120 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: 2018, with 103 ha lost.
Worst year: 2006, with 160 ha lost.
| Cartagena | Medellín | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 785 ha (better) | 1,370 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 23% | 9% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 775 ha (better) | 1,120 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (59%) | Towns and roads (47%) |
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.
Cartagena
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Medellín
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km southeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Cartagena or Medellín?
Medellín has more tree cover: 19.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.7% around Cartagena, or about 62,204 trees against 48,928.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Cartagena | Medellín | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 48.9K | 62.2K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 44.6K | 32.0K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.1M kg | 1.4M 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
Cartagena vs Medellín: your questions answered
Is Cartagena cleaner than Medellín?
On air quality, yes, right now: Cartagena reads AQI 52 against 59, 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Cartagena averaged AQI 37 against 43, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Cartagena and Medellín today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Cartagena reads AQI 52 and Medellín reads AQI 59.
Which has lost more forest, Cartagena or Medellín?
Medellín has lost more: about 1,370 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 785 ha around Cartagena. 1,120 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Cartagena or Medellín?
Medellín has more tree cover: 19.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.7% around Cartagena, or about 62,204 trees against 48,928. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Cartagena and Medellín need?
Cartagena needs about 44,565 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Medellín about 32,044 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Cartagena and Medellín 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. Medellín is read from a nearby ground station and Cartagena 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 Cartagena vs Medellín 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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