Air quality comparison · Ecuador, 126 km apart
Cuenca vs Guayaquil Air quality index (AQI) today
Guayaquil has cleaner air than Cuenca right now: AQI 16 (Good) against 24 (Good).
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, both averaged AQI 30. Cuenca has lost more forest since 2001. Guayaquil has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Cuenca24Guayaquil16
Head to head
Cuenca vs Guayaquil at a glance
Guayaquil is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Cuenca on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Cuenca | Guayaquil | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 24 | 16 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 4.1 | 3.3 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 30 | 30 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 625 ha | 30 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 4.8% | 6.6% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 79.2K | 52.0K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Cuenca and Guayaquil right now?
Guayaquil has cleaner air than Cuenca right now: AQI 16 (Good) against 24 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
CuencaGuayaquil
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).
Cuenca: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Guayaquil: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 30. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Cuenca3Guayaquil3
- Average AQI
- Cuenca30Guayaquil30
- Worst day, AQI
- Cuenca36Guayaquil41
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Cuenca | Guayaquil |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 32 | 29 |
| Nov 5 | 34 | 19 |
| Nov 6 | 26 | 40 |
| Nov 7 | 22 | 25 |
| Nov 8 | 36 | 41 |
| Nov 9 | 30 | 24 |
| Nov 10 | 29 | 29 |
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 Cuenca and Guayaquil 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 Cuenca and Guayaquil compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Cuenca's air is cleaner than 85% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Guayaquil's is cleaner than 92%. Within Ecuador, that is 27% and 73% of its 16 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Cuenca
- Beats 85%
- Guayaquil
- Beats 92%
More tree cover than…
- Cuenca
- Beats 10%
- Guayaquil
- Beats 13%
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, Cuenca or Guayaquil?
Cuenca has lost more: about 625 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 30 ha around Guayaquil. 448 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: 2009, with 109 ha lost.
Worst year: 2005, with 8 ha lost.
| Cuenca | Guayaquil | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 625 ha | 30 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 7.9% | under 1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 448 ha | 21 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 (43%) | Towns and roads (60%) |
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.
Cuenca
2017: satellite photo from November 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
Guayaquil
2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Cuenca or Guayaquil?
Guayaquil has more tree cover: 6.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 4.8% around Cuenca, or about 14,680 trees against 15,080.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Cuenca | Guayaquil | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 15.1K (better) | 14.7K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 79.2K | 52.0K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 332K kg (better) | 323K 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
Cuenca vs Guayaquil: your questions answered
Is Guayaquil cleaner than Cuenca?
On air quality, yes, right now: Guayaquil reads AQI 16 against 24, 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, both averaged AQI 30.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Cuenca and Guayaquil today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Cuenca reads AQI 24 and Guayaquil reads AQI 16.
Which has lost more forest, Cuenca or Guayaquil?
Cuenca has lost more: about 625 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 30 ha around Guayaquil. 448 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Cuenca or Guayaquil?
Guayaquil has more tree cover: 6.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 4.8% around Cuenca, or about 14,680 trees against 15,080. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Cuenca and Guayaquil need?
Cuenca needs about 79,168 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Guayaquil about 52,047 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Cuenca and Guayaquil 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 Cuenca vs Guayaquil 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 (Oct 7, 2026 and Jan 5, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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