Air quality comparison · Vietnam, 636 km apart
Ho Chi Minh City vs Huế Air quality index (AQI) today
Huế has cleaner air than Ho Chi Minh City right now: AQI 27 (Good) against 44 (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, Huế averaged AQI 58 against 79, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Huế has lost more forest since 2001. Huế has more tree cover.
Vietnam
AQI 44
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 8 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 00:00 local
Vietnam
AQI 27
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 4.8 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 23:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Ho Chi Minh City44Huế27
Head to head
Ho Chi Minh City vs Huế at a glance
Huế is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Ho Chi Minh City on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Ho Chi Minh City | Huế | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 44 | 27 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 8 | 4.8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 79 | 58 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 50 ha (better) | 1,690 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 9.7% | 21.2% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 63.8K | 26.7K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Ho Chi Minh City and Huế right now?
Huế has cleaner air than Ho Chi Minh City right now: AQI 27 (Good) against 44 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
Ho Chi Minh CityHuế
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).
Ho Chi Minh City: Ground station · CMT8, 6.1 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Thomas Versteeg.
Huế: Ground station · Thừa Thiên Huế/83 Hùng Vương, Vietnam, 100 m away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Vietnam Center For Environmental Monitoring Portal (cổng thông tin quan trắc môi trường).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Huế averaged AQI 58 against 79, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 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
- Ho Chi Minh City0Huế7
- Average AQI
- Ho Chi Minh City79Huế58
- Worst day, AQI
- Ho Chi Minh City98Huế75
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Ho Chi Minh City | Huế |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 70 | 58 |
| Nov 6 | 78 | 54 |
| Nov 7 | 72 | 48 |
| Nov 8 | 77 | 55 |
| Nov 9 | 79 | 52 |
| Nov 10 | 76 | 62 |
| Nov 11 | 98 | 75 |
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 Ho Chi Minh City and Huế 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 Ho Chi Minh City and Huế compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Ho Chi Minh City's air is cleaner than 66% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Huế's is cleaner than 83%. Within Vietnam, that is 37% and 73% of its 114 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Beats 66%
- Huế
- Beats 83%
More tree cover than…
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Beats 20%
- Huế
- Beats 49%
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, Ho Chi Minh City or Huế?
Huế has lost more: about 1,690 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 50 ha around Ho Chi Minh City. 120 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: 2001, with 17 ha lost.
Worst year: 2021, with 232 ha lost.
| Ho Chi Minh City | Huế | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 50 ha (better) | 1,690 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 9% (better) | 34% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 37 ha (better) | 120 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (42%) | Logging (92%) |
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.
Ho Chi Minh City
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Huế
2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Ho Chi Minh City or Huế?
Huế has more tree cover: 21.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.7% around Ho Chi Minh City, or about 64,204 trees against 30,473.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Ho Chi Minh City | Huế | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 30.5K | 64.2K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 63.8K | 26.7K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 670K kg | 1.4M 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
Ho Chi Minh City vs Huế: your questions answered
Is Huế cleaner than Ho Chi Minh City?
On air quality, yes, right now: Huế reads AQI 27 against 44, a gap of 17 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, Huế averaged AQI 58 against 79, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Ho Chi Minh City and Huế today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Ho Chi Minh City reads AQI 44 and Huế reads AQI 27.
Which has lost more forest, Ho Chi Minh City or Huế?
Huế has lost more: about 1,690 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 50 ha around Ho Chi Minh City. 120 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Ho Chi Minh City or Huế?
Huế has more tree cover: 21.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.7% around Ho Chi Minh City, or about 64,204 trees against 30,473. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Ho Chi Minh City and Huế need?
Ho Chi Minh City needs about 63,774 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Huế about 26,651 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Ho Chi Minh City and Huế 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 come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Ho Chi Minh City vs Huế 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 (Apr 26, 2026 and Aug 12, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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