Air quality comparison · Philippines, 391 km apart
Davao vs Zamboanga Air quality index (AQI) today
Davao has cleaner air than Zamboanga right now: AQI 6 (Good) against 16 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 32, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Davao has lost more forest since 2001. Zamboanga has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Davao6Zamboanga16
Head to head
Davao vs Zamboanga at a glance
Zamboanga is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Davao on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Davao | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 6 (better) | 16 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 1 (better) | 2.9 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 32 | 20 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,330 ha | 559 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 10.0% | 22.5% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 51.3K | 16.6K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Davao and Zamboanga right now?
Davao has cleaner air than Zamboanga right now: AQI 6 (Good) against 16 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Davao is read from a nearby ground station and Zamboanga is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
DavaoZamboanga
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).
Davao: Ground station · Illumina, 8 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Ethan Brooke.
Zamboanga: 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?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 32, 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
- Davao0Zamboanga6
- Average AQI
- Davao32Zamboanga20
- Worst day, AQI
- Davao44Zamboanga34
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Davao | Zamboanga |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 44 | 34 |
| Nov 6 | 42 | 21 |
| Nov 7 | 29 | 14 |
| Nov 8 | 20 | 10 |
| Nov 9 | 26 | 15 |
| Nov 10 | 30 | 24 |
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 Davao and Zamboanga 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 Davao and Zamboanga compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Davao's air is cleaner than 98% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Zamboanga's is cleaner than 92%. Within Philippines, that is 87% and 75% of its 100 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Davao
- Beats 98%
- Zamboanga
- Beats 92%
More tree cover than…
- Davao
- Beats 21%
- Zamboanga
- Beats 52%
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, Davao or Zamboanga?
Davao has lost more: about 1,330 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 559 ha around Zamboanga. 1,320 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: 2010, with 205 ha lost.
Worst year: 2007, with 84 ha lost.
| Davao | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,330 ha | 559 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 15% | 8% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1,320 ha | 542 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (62%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (64%) |
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.
Davao
2017: satellite photo from May 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
Zamboanga
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Davao or Zamboanga?
Zamboanga has more tree cover: 22.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.0% around Davao, or about 49,763 trees against 25,667.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Davao | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 25.7K | 49.8K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 51.3K | 16.6K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 565K kg | 1.1M 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
Davao vs Zamboanga: your questions answered
Is Davao cleaner than Zamboanga?
On air quality, yes, right now: Davao reads AQI 6 against 16, a gap of 10 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 32, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Davao and Zamboanga today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Davao reads AQI 6 and Zamboanga reads AQI 16.
Which has lost more forest, Davao or Zamboanga?
Davao has lost more: about 1,330 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 559 ha around Zamboanga. 1,320 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Davao or Zamboanga?
Zamboanga has more tree cover: 22.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.0% around Davao, or about 49,763 trees against 25,667. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Davao and Zamboanga need?
Davao needs about 51,334 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Zamboanga about 16,588 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Davao and Zamboanga 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. Davao is read from a nearby ground station and Zamboanga 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 Davao vs Zamboanga 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 19, 2026 and Sep 5, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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