Air quality comparison · Guatemala, 56 km apart
Guatemala City vs Jalapa Air quality index (AQI) today
Jalapa has cleaner air than Guatemala City right now: AQI 18 (Good) against 30 (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, Jalapa averaged AQI 48 against 63, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Guatemala City has lost more forest since 2001. Guatemala City has more tree cover.
Guatemala
AQI 30
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 5.4 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 09:55 local
Guatemala
AQI 18
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 3 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 14:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Guatemala City30Jalapa18
Head to head
Guatemala City vs Jalapa at a glance
Jalapa is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Guatemala City on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Guatemala City | Jalapa | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 30 | 18 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.4 | 3 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 63 | 48 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,270 ha | 1,190 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 17.9% (better) | 16.7% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 38.0K (better) | 41.8K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Guatemala City and Jalapa right now?
Jalapa has cleaner air than Guatemala City right now: AQI 18 (Good) against 30 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Guatemala City is read from a nearby ground station and Jalapa is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Guatemala CityJalapa
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).
Guatemala City: Ground station · US_Embassy_Guatemala_City, 3.8 km away. Data: OpenAQ · Clarity.
Jalapa: Estimate · model corrected with 6 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Guatemala City and Villa Nueva. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 6 ground-station cities within 245 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, Jalapa averaged AQI 48 against 63, 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
- Guatemala City2Jalapa5
- Average AQI
- Guatemala City63Jalapa48
- Worst day, AQI
- Guatemala City76Jalapa65
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Guatemala City | Jalapa |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 73 | 41 |
| Nov 5 | 76 | 43 |
| Nov 6 | 74 | 54 |
| Nov 7 | 64 | 65 |
| Nov 8 | 46 | 39 |
| Nov 9 | 53 | 40 |
| Nov 10 | 52 | 54 |
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 Guatemala City and Jalapa 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 Guatemala City and Jalapa compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Guatemala City's air is cleaner than 80% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Jalapa's is cleaner than 91%. Within Guatemala, that is 50% and 86% of its 15 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Guatemala City
- Beats 80%
- Jalapa
- Beats 91%
More tree cover than…
- Guatemala City
- Beats 41%
- Jalapa
- Beats 39%
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, Guatemala City or Jalapa?
Guatemala City has lost more: about 1,270 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,190 ha around Jalapa. 1,260 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 137 ha lost.
Worst year: 2001, with 167 ha lost.
| Guatemala City | Jalapa | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,270 ha | 1,190 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 10% | 9.6% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1,260 ha | 978 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (76%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (81%) |
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.
Guatemala City
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Jalapa
2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Guatemala City or Jalapa?
Guatemala City has more tree cover: 17.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.7% around Jalapa, or about 56,235 trees against 52,465.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Guatemala City | Jalapa | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 56.2K (better) | 52.5K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 38.0K (better) | 41.8K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg (better) | 1.2M 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
Guatemala City vs Jalapa: your questions answered
Is Jalapa cleaner than Guatemala City?
On air quality, yes, right now: Jalapa reads AQI 18 against 30, a gap of 12 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, Jalapa averaged AQI 48 against 63, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Guatemala City and Jalapa today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Guatemala City reads AQI 30 and Jalapa reads AQI 18.
Which has lost more forest, Guatemala City or Jalapa?
Guatemala City has lost more: about 1,270 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,190 ha around Jalapa. 1,260 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Guatemala City or Jalapa?
Guatemala City has more tree cover: 17.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.7% around Jalapa, or about 56,235 trees against 52,465. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Guatemala City and Jalapa need?
Guatemala City needs about 38,013 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Jalapa about 41,783 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 56 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 Guatemala City and Jalapa 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. Guatemala City is read from a nearby ground station and Jalapa 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 Guatemala City vs Jalapa 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 16, 2026 and Sep 10, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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