Air quality comparison · Guatemala, 111 km apart
Guatemala City vs Quetzaltenango Air quality index (AQI) today
Guatemala City has cleaner air than Quetzaltenango right now: AQI 37 (Good) against 102 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Guatemala City averaged AQI 56 against 94, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Guatemala City has lost more forest since 2001. Guatemala City has more tree cover.
Guatemala
AQI 37
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 6.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 11:50 local
Guatemala
AQI 102
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 25.8 µg/m³1.7× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 12, 03:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Guatemala City37Quetzaltenango102
Head to head
Guatemala City vs Quetzaltenango at a glance
Guatemala City is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Quetzaltenango on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Guatemala City | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 37 (better) | 102 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 6.7 (better) | 25.8 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 56 (better) | 94 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,270 ha | 476 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 17.9% (better) | 5.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 38.0K (better) | 91.7K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango right now?
Guatemala City has cleaner air than Quetzaltenango right now: AQI 37 (Good) against 102 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Quetzaltenango's PM2.5 is about 1.7× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Guatemala City is read from a nearby ground station and Quetzaltenango is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Guatemala CityQuetzaltenango
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.
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 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Guatemala City averaged AQI 56 against 94, 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
- Guatemala City6Quetzaltenango0
- Average AQI
- Guatemala City56Quetzaltenango94
- Worst day, AQI
- Guatemala City74Quetzaltenango104
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Guatemala City | Quetzaltenango |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 6 | 74 | 103 |
| Nov 7 | 64 | 92 |
| Nov 8 | 46 | 87 |
| Nov 9 | 53 | 87 |
| Nov 10 | 59 | 92 |
| Nov 11 | 41 | 104 |
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 Quetzaltenango today?
Guatemala City (AQI 37, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Quetzaltenango (AQI 102, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Exercise outdoors
- Guatemala City
- A good day to be active outside.
- Quetzaltenango
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
- Guatemala City
- Open them to air the house.
- Quetzaltenango
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
- Guatemala City
- Not needed.
- Quetzaltenango
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Guatemala City
- Not needed.
- Quetzaltenango
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Guatemala City's air is cleaner than 72% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Quetzaltenango's is cleaner than 20%. Within Guatemala, that is 50% and 7% of its 15 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Guatemala City
- Beats 72%
- Quetzaltenango
- Beats 20%
More tree cover than…
- Guatemala City
- Beats 41%
- 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, Guatemala City or Quetzaltenango?
Guatemala City has lost more: about 1,270 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 476 ha around Quetzaltenango. 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: 2008, with 87 ha lost.
| Guatemala City | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,270 ha | 476 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 10% | 4% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1,260 ha | 265 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (76%) | 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.
Guatemala City
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast 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, Guatemala City or Quetzaltenango?
Guatemala City has more tree cover: 17.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.8% around Quetzaltenango, or about 56,235 trees against 18,221.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Guatemala City | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 56.2K (better) | 18.2K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 38.0K (better) | 91.7K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M 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
Guatemala City vs Quetzaltenango: your questions answered
Is Guatemala City cleaner than Quetzaltenango?
On air quality, yes, right now: Guatemala City reads AQI 37 against 102, a gap of 65 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, Guatemala City averaged AQI 56 against 94, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango today?
In Guatemala City, at AQI 37: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Quetzaltenango, at AQI 102: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Which has lost more forest, Guatemala City or Quetzaltenango?
Guatemala City has lost more: about 1,270 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 476 ha around Quetzaltenango. 1,260 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Guatemala City or Quetzaltenango?
Guatemala City has more tree cover: 17.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.8% around Quetzaltenango, or about 56,235 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 Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango need?
Guatemala City needs about 38,013 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Quetzaltenango about 91,735 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Guatemala City 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. Guatemala City is read from a nearby ground station and Quetzaltenango 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 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 (Aug 16, 2026 and Sep 10, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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