Air quality comparison · Nicaragua, 110 km apart
Chinandega vs Managua Air quality index (AQI) today
Managua has cleaner air than Chinandega right now: AQI 43 (Good) against 55 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Managua averaged AQI 27 against 40, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Chinandega has lost more forest since 2001. Chinandega has more tree cover.
Nicaragua
AQI 55
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 10.6 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 14:00 local
Nicaragua
AQI 43
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 7.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 10:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Chinandega55Managua43
Head to head
Chinandega vs Managua at a glance
Managua is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Chinandega on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Chinandega | Managua | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 55 | 43 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 10.6 | 7.7 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 40 | 27 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 793 ha | 263 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 37.4% (better) | 17.7% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 38.6K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Chinandega and Managua right now?
Managua has cleaner air than Chinandega right now: AQI 43 (Good) against 55 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Managua is read from a nearby ground station and Chinandega is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
ChinandegaManagua
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).
Chinandega: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 145 km, e.g. Managua and Masaya. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 145 km, US EPA index.
Managua: Ground station · Managua, Nicaragua - Sustenta Honduras, 14.1 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Sustenta Honduras.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Managua averaged AQI 27 against 40, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 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
- Chinandega0Managua7
- Average AQI
- Chinandega40Managua27
- Worst day, AQI
- Chinandega56Managua38
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Chinandega | Managua |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 42 | 38 |
| Nov 5 | 38 | 32 |
| Nov 6 | 26 | 24 |
| Nov 7 | 42 | 27 |
| Nov 8 | 39 | 24 |
| Nov 9 | 39 | 29 |
| Nov 10 | 56 | 18 |
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 Chinandega and Managua today?
Chinandega (AQI 55, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Managua (AQI 43, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Chinandega
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Managua
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Chinandega
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Managua
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Chinandega
- Not needed for most people.
- Managua
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Chinandega
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Managua
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Chinandega and Managua compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Chinandega's air is cleaner than 54% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Managua's is cleaner than 68%. Within Nicaragua, that is 0% and 40% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Chinandega
- Beats 54%
- Managua
- Beats 68%
More tree cover than…
- Chinandega
- Beats 80%
- Managua
- Beats 41%
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, Chinandega or Managua?
Chinandega has lost more: about 793 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 263 ha around Managua. 784 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: 2012, with 100 ha lost.
Worst year: 2006, with 31 ha lost.
| Chinandega | Managua | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 793 ha | 263 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 11% | 3.3% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 784 ha | 252 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (98%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (56%) |
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.
Chinandega
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Managua
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Chinandega or Managua?
Chinandega has more tree cover: 37.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 17.7% around Managua, or about 117,496 trees against 55,606.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Chinandega | Managua | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 117K (better) | 55.6K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 38.6K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.6M kg (better) | 1.2M 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
Chinandega vs Managua: your questions answered
Is Managua cleaner than Chinandega?
On air quality, yes, right now: Managua reads AQI 43 against 55, a gap of 12 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, Managua averaged AQI 27 against 40, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Chinandega and Managua today?
In Chinandega, at AQI 55: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Managua, at AQI 43: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Chinandega or Managua?
Chinandega has lost more: about 793 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 263 ha around Managua. 784 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Chinandega or Managua?
Chinandega has more tree cover: 37.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 17.7% around Managua, or about 117,496 trees against 55,606. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Chinandega and Managua need?
Chinandega needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Managua about 38,642 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Chinandega and Managua 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. Managua is read from a nearby ground station and Chinandega 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 Chinandega vs Managua 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 28, 2026 and Aug 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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