Air quality comparison · Philippines, 428 km apart
Cebu City vs Zamboanga Air quality index (AQI) today
Zamboanga has cleaner air than Cebu City right now: AQI 16 (Good) against 29 (Good).
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, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 24, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Zamboanga has lost more forest since 2001. Cebu City has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Cebu City29Zamboanga16
Head to head
Cebu City vs Zamboanga at a glance
Cebu City and Zamboanga are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Cebu City | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 29 | 16 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.9 | 2.9 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 24 | 20 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 452 ha (better) | 559 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 24.9% (better) | 22.5% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 16.0K (better) | 16.6K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Cebu City and Zamboanga right now?
Zamboanga has cleaner air than Cebu City right now: AQI 16 (Good) against 29 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
Cebu CityZamboanga
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).
Cebu City: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 125 km, e.g. Bacolod and Talisay. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 125 km, US EPA index.
Zamboanga: 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?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 24, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Cebu City2Zamboanga4
- Average AQI
- Cebu City24Zamboanga20
- Worst day, AQI
- Cebu City35Zamboanga34
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Cebu City | Zamboanga |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 16 | 34 |
| Nov 6 | 19 | 21 |
| Nov 7 | 20 | 14 |
| Nov 8 | 23 | 10 |
| Nov 9 | 35 | 15 |
| Nov 10 | 29 | 24 |
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 Cebu City and Zamboanga 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 Cebu City and Zamboanga compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Cebu City's air is cleaner than 80% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Zamboanga's is cleaner than 92%. Within Philippines, that is 61% and 87% of its 100 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Cebu City
- Beats 80%
- Zamboanga
- Beats 92%
More tree cover than…
- Cebu City
- Beats 57%
- Zamboanga
- Beats 52%
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, Cebu City or Zamboanga?
Zamboanga has lost more: about 559 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 452 ha around Cebu City. 542 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: 2009, with 102 ha lost.
Worst year: 2007, with 84 ha lost.
| Cebu City | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 452 ha (better) | 559 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 5.6% (better) | 8% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 412 ha (better) | 542 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (51%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (64%) |
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.
Cebu City
2019: satellite photo from April 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Zamboanga
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Cebu City or Zamboanga?
Cebu City has more tree cover: 24.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 22.5% around Zamboanga, or about 78,226 trees against 49,763.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Cebu City | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 78.2K (better) | 49.8K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 16.0K (better) | 16.6K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.7M kg (better) | 1.1M 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
Cebu City vs Zamboanga: your questions answered
Is Zamboanga cleaner than Cebu City?
On air quality, yes, right now: Zamboanga reads AQI 16 against 29, 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 24, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Cebu City and Zamboanga today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Cebu City reads AQI 29 and Zamboanga reads AQI 16.
Which has lost more forest, Cebu City or Zamboanga?
Zamboanga has lost more: about 559 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 452 ha around Cebu City. 542 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Cebu City or Zamboanga?
Cebu City has more tree cover: 24.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 22.5% around Zamboanga, or about 78,226 trees against 49,763. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Cebu City and Zamboanga need?
Cebu City needs about 16,022 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Zamboanga about 16,588 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Cebu City and Zamboanga 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 Cebu City vs Zamboanga 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 12, 2026 and Sep 5, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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