Air quality comparison · Panama, 58 km apart
Colón vs Panama City Air quality index (AQI) today
Colón has cleaner air than Panama City right now: AQI 31 (Good) against 37 (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, Colón averaged AQI 30 against 36, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Colón has lost more forest since 2001. Panama City has more tree cover.
Panama
AQI 31
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 5.9 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 04:00 local
Panama
AQI 37
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 6.3 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 02:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Colón31Panama City37
Head to head
Colón vs Panama City at a glance
Colón is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Panama City on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Colón | Panama City | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 31 (better) | 37 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.9 (better) | 6.3 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 30 (better) | 36 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 650 ha | 442 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 7.8% | 13.9% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 26.9K (better) | 50.4K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Colón and Panama City right now?
Colón has cleaner air than Panama City right now: AQI 31 (Good) against 37 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
ColónPanama City
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).
Colón: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Panama City: 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, Colón averaged AQI 30 against 36, 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
- Colón5Panama City1
- Average AQI
- Colón30Panama City36
- Worst day, AQI
- Colón37Panama City49
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Colón | Panama City |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 37 | 48 |
| Nov 6 | 31 | 33 |
| Nov 7 | 34 | 29 |
| Nov 8 | 15 | 16 |
| Nov 9 | 34 | 40 |
| Nov 10 | 31 | 49 |
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 Colón and Panama City 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 Colón and Panama City compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Colón's air is cleaner than 78% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Panama City's is cleaner than 73%. Within Panama, that is 60% and 20% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Colón
- Beats 78%
- Panama City
- Beats 73%
More tree cover than…
- Colón
- Beats 16%
- Panama City
- Beats 32%
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, Colón or Panama City?
Colón has lost more: about 650 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 442 ha around Panama City. 585 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 92 ha lost.
Worst year: 2008, with 69 ha lost.
| Colón | Panama City | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 650 ha | 442 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 5.7% (better) | 5.9% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 585 ha | 432 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (63%) | Towns and roads (58%) |
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.
Colón
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 4 km east of the city center.
Panama City
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Colón or Panama City?
Panama City has more tree cover: 13.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 7.8% around Colón, or about 43,537 trees against 9,459.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Colón | Panama City | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 9.5K | 43.5K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 26.9K (better) | 50.4K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 208K kg | 958K 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
Colón vs Panama City: your questions answered
Is Colón cleaner than Panama City?
On air quality, yes, right now: Colón reads AQI 31 against 37, a gap of 6 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, Colón averaged AQI 30 against 36, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Colón and Panama City today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Colón reads AQI 31 and Panama City reads AQI 37.
Which has lost more forest, Colón or Panama City?
Colón has lost more: about 650 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 442 ha around Panama City. 585 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Colón or Panama City?
Panama City has more tree cover: 13.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 7.8% around Colón, or about 43,537 trees against 9,459. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Colón and Panama City need?
Colón needs about 26,921 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Panama City about 50,428 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 58 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Colón and Panama City 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 Colón vs Panama City 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 21, 2026 and May 8, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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