Air quality comparison · Guatemala, 142 km apart
Cobán vs Quetzaltenango Air quality index (AQI) today
Cobán has cleaner air than Quetzaltenango right now: AQI 14 (Good) against 53 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Cobán averaged AQI 44 against 97, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Cobán has lost more forest since 2001. Cobán has more tree cover.
Guatemala
AQI 14
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 2.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 17:00 local
Guatemala
AQI 53
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 6.1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 10:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Cobán14Quetzaltenango53
Head to head
Cobán vs Quetzaltenango at a glance
Cobán is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Quetzaltenango on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Cobán | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 14 (better) | 53 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 2.7 (better) | 6.1 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 44 (better) | 97 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 8,280 ha | 476 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 52.8% (better) | 5.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 76.0K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Cobán and Quetzaltenango right now?
Cobán has cleaner air than Quetzaltenango right now: AQI 14 (Good) against 53 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
CobánQuetzaltenango
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).
Cobán: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 105 km, e.g. San Juan Sacatepéquez and Guatemala City. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index.
Quetzaltenango: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 105 km, e.g. San Juan Sacatepéquez and Guatemala City. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Cobán averaged AQI 44 against 97, 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
- Cobán7Quetzaltenango0
- Average AQI
- Cobán44Quetzaltenango97
- Worst day, AQI
- Cobán50Quetzaltenango111
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Cobán | Quetzaltenango |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 43 | 104 |
| Nov 5 | 40 | 111 |
| Nov 6 | 47 | 103 |
| Nov 7 | 50 | 92 |
| Nov 8 | 44 | 87 |
| Nov 9 | 45 | 87 |
| Nov 10 | 42 | 93 |
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 Cobán and Quetzaltenango today?
Cobán (AQI 14, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Quetzaltenango (AQI 53, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Cobán
- A good day to be active outside.
- Quetzaltenango
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Cobán
- Open them to air the house.
- Quetzaltenango
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Cobán
- Not needed.
- Quetzaltenango
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Cobán
- Not needed.
- Quetzaltenango
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Cobán and Quetzaltenango compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Cobán's air is cleaner than 93% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Quetzaltenango's is cleaner than 57%. Within Guatemala, that is 100% and 29% of its 15 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Cobán
- Beats 93%
- Quetzaltenango
- Beats 57%
More tree cover than…
- Cobán
- Beats 94%
- Quetzaltenango
- Beats 12%
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, Cobán or Quetzaltenango?
Cobán has lost more: about 8,280 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 476 ha around Quetzaltenango. 6,210 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: 2016, with 1,110 ha lost.
Worst year: 2008, with 87 ha lost.
| Cobán | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 8,280 ha | 476 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 28% | 4% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 6,210 ha | 265 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (70%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (25%) |
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.
Cobán
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Quetzaltenango
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km southwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Cobán or Quetzaltenango?
Cobán has more tree cover: 52.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.8% around Quetzaltenango, or about 165,876 trees against 18,221.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Cobán | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 166K (better) | 18.2K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 76.0K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 3.6M kg (better) | 401K 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
Cobán vs Quetzaltenango: your questions answered
Is Cobán cleaner than Quetzaltenango?
On air quality, yes, right now: Cobán reads AQI 14 against 53, a gap of 39 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, Cobán averaged AQI 44 against 97, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Cobán and Quetzaltenango today?
In Cobán, at AQI 14: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Quetzaltenango, at AQI 53: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Cobán or Quetzaltenango?
Cobán has lost more: about 8,280 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 476 ha around Quetzaltenango. 6,210 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Cobán or Quetzaltenango?
Cobán has more tree cover: 52.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.8% around Quetzaltenango, or about 165,876 trees against 18,221. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Cobán and Quetzaltenango need?
Cobán needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Quetzaltenango about 76,027 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Cobán and Quetzaltenango 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 Cobán vs Quetzaltenango 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 10, 2026 and Sep 10, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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