Air quality comparison · Nicaragua, 136 km apart
Chinandega vs Matagalpa Air quality index (AQI) today
Matagalpa has cleaner air than Chinandega right now: AQI 8 (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, Matagalpa averaged AQI 25 against 40, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Matagalpa has lost more forest since 2001. Matagalpa 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 8
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 1.5 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.
Chinandega55Matagalpa8
Head to head
Chinandega vs Matagalpa at a glance
Matagalpa is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Chinandega on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Chinandega | Matagalpa | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 55 | 8 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 10.6 | 1.5 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 40 | 25 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 793 ha (better) | 838 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 37.4% | 41.7% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Chinandega and Matagalpa right now?
Matagalpa has cleaner air than Chinandega right now: AQI 8 (Good) against 55 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Matagalpa is read from a nearby ground station and Chinandega is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
ChinandegaMatagalpa
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.
Matagalpa: Ground station · Matagalpa, Matagalpa - Sustenta Honduras, 100 m 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, Matagalpa averaged AQI 25 against 40, 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
- Chinandega1Matagalpa6
- Average AQI
- Chinandega40Matagalpa25
- Worst day, AQI
- Chinandega56Matagalpa46
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Chinandega | Matagalpa |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 42 | 46 |
| Nov 5 | 38 | 32 |
| Nov 6 | 26 | 19 |
| Nov 7 | 42 | 29 |
| Nov 8 | 39 | 15 |
| Nov 9 | 39 | 23 |
| Nov 10 | 56 | 14 |
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 Matagalpa today?
Chinandega (AQI 55, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Matagalpa (AQI 8, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Chinandega
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Matagalpa
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Chinandega
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Matagalpa
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Chinandega
- Not needed for most people.
- Matagalpa
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Chinandega
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Matagalpa
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Chinandega and Matagalpa compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Chinandega's air is cleaner than 54% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Matagalpa's is cleaner than 97%. Within Nicaragua, that is 0% and 100% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Chinandega
- Beats 54%
- Matagalpa
- Beats 97%
More tree cover than…
- Chinandega
- Beats 80%
- Matagalpa
- Beats 86%
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 Matagalpa?
Matagalpa has lost more: about 838 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 793 ha around Chinandega. 791 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: 2023, with 134 ha lost.
| Chinandega | Matagalpa | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 793 ha (better) | 838 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 11% | 4% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 784 ha (better) | 791 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Holding steady |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (98%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (94%) |
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.
Matagalpa
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Chinandega or Matagalpa?
Matagalpa has more tree cover: 41.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 37.4% around Chinandega, or about 131,004 trees against 117,496.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Chinandega | Matagalpa | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 117K | 131K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.6M kg | 2.9M 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
Chinandega vs Matagalpa: your questions answered
Is Matagalpa cleaner than Chinandega?
On air quality, yes, right now: Matagalpa reads AQI 8 against 55, a gap of 47 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, Matagalpa averaged AQI 25 against 40, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Chinandega and Matagalpa today?
In Chinandega, at AQI 55: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Matagalpa, at AQI 8: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Chinandega or Matagalpa?
Matagalpa has lost more: about 838 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 793 ha around Chinandega. 791 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Chinandega or Matagalpa?
Matagalpa has more tree cover: 41.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 37.4% around Chinandega, or about 131,004 trees against 117,496. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Chinandega and Matagalpa need?
Chinandega needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Matagalpa about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Chinandega and Matagalpa 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. Matagalpa 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 Matagalpa 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 May 12, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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