Air quality comparison · Mexico, 345 km apart
Chihuahua vs Ciudad Juárez Air quality index (AQI) today
Chihuahua has cleaner air than Ciudad Juárez right now: AQI 59 (Moderate) against 67 (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, Chihuahua averaged AQI 26 against 35, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Chihuahua has more tree cover.
Mexico
AQI 59
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 13.4 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 11:00 local
Mexico
AQI 67
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 17.6 µg/m³1.2× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 11:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Chihuahua59Ciudad Juárez67
Head to head
Chihuahua vs Ciudad Juárez at a glance
Chihuahua is ahead on 5 of 5 measures, and Ciudad Juárez on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Chihuahua | Ciudad Juárez | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 59 (better) | 67 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 13.4 (better) | 17.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 26 (better) | 35 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 4.3% (better) | 1.5% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 80.7K (better) | 89.5K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez right now?
Chihuahua has cleaner air than Ciudad Juárez right now: AQI 59 (Moderate) against 67 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Ciudad Juárez's PM2.5 is about 1.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
ChihuahuaCiudad Juárez
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).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Chihuahua averaged AQI 26 against 35, 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
- Chihuahua5Ciudad Juárez2
- Average AQI
- Chihuahua26Ciudad Juárez35
- Worst day, AQI
- Chihuahua61Ciudad Juárez77
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Chihuahua | Ciudad Juárez |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 31 | 43 |
| Nov 5 | 19 | 29 |
| Nov 6 | 14 | 9 |
| Nov 7 | 23 | 19 |
| Nov 8 | 7 | 20 |
| Nov 9 | 24 | 45 |
| Nov 10 | 61 | 77 |
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 Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez 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 Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Chihuahua's air is cleaner than 48% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Ciudad Juárez's is cleaner than 41%. Within Mexico, that is 58% and 52% of its 114 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Chihuahua
- Beats 48%
- Ciudad Juárez
- Beats 41%
More tree cover than…
- Chihuahua
- Beats 9%
- Ciudad Juárez
- Beats 3%
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.
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.
Chihuahua
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Ciudad Juárez
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Chihuahua or Ciudad Juárez?
Chihuahua has more tree cover: 4.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.5% around Ciudad Juárez, or about 13,509 trees against 4,712.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Chihuahua | Ciudad Juárez | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 13.5K (better) | 4.7K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 80.7K (better) | 89.5K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 297K kg (better) | 104K 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
Chihuahua vs Ciudad Juárez: your questions answered
Is Chihuahua cleaner than Ciudad Juárez?
On air quality, yes, right now: Chihuahua reads AQI 59 against 67, a gap of 8 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, Chihuahua averaged AQI 26 against 35, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Chihuahua reads AQI 59 and Ciudad Juárez reads AQI 67.
Which has more trees, Chihuahua or Ciudad Juárez?
Chihuahua has more tree cover: 4.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.5% around Ciudad Juárez, or about 13,509 trees against 4,712. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez need?
Chihuahua needs about 80,739 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Ciudad Juárez about 89,535 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez 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 Chihuahua vs Ciudad Juárez 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 14, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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