Air quality comparison · Ecuador, 78 km apart
Ibarra vs Quito Air quality index (AQI) today
Ibarra has cleaner air than Quito right now: AQI 26 (Good) against 52 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Ibarra averaged AQI 24 against 37, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Quito has lost more forest since 2001. Quito has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Ibarra26Quito52
Head to head
Ibarra vs Quito at a glance
Ibarra is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Quito on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Ibarra | Quito | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 26 (better) | 52 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 3.7 (better) | 9.7 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 24 (better) | 37 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 198 ha (better) | 430 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 7.3% | 23.1% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 71.3K | 21.7K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Ibarra and Quito right now?
Ibarra has cleaner air than Quito right now: AQI 26 (Good) against 52 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Quito is read from a nearby ground station and Ibarra is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
IbarraQuito
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).
Ibarra: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Quito: Ground station · Centro, Quito, Ecuador, 1.5 km away · median of 2 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Metropolitan Air Monitoring Network of Quito managed by Secretaria de Ambiente DMQ..
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Ibarra averaged AQI 24 against 37, 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
- Ibarra6Quito1
- Average AQI
- Ibarra24Quito37
- Worst day, AQI
- Ibarra37Quito53
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Ibarra | Quito |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 35 | 44 |
| Nov 5 | 14 | 39 |
| Nov 6 | 22 | 53 |
| Nov 7 | 17 | 40 |
| Nov 8 | 14 | 29 |
| Nov 9 | 26 | 31 |
| Nov 10 | 37 | 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 Ibarra and Quito today?
Ibarra (AQI 26, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Quito (AQI 52, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Ibarra
- A good day to be active outside.
- Quito
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Ibarra
- Open them to air the house.
- Quito
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Ibarra
- Not needed.
- Quito
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Ibarra
- Not needed.
- Quito
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Ibarra and Quito compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Ibarra's air is cleaner than 83% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Quito's is cleaner than 59%. Within Ecuador, that is 20% and 0% of its 16 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Ibarra
- Beats 83%
- Quito
- Beats 59%
More tree cover than…
- Ibarra
- Beats 15%
- Quito
- Beats 54%
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, Ibarra or Quito?
Quito has lost more: about 430 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 198 ha around Ibarra. 278 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 41 ha lost.
Worst year: 2004, with 54 ha lost.
| Ibarra | Quito | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 198 ha (better) | 430 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3% (better) | 4% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 179 ha (better) | 278 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (87%) | Towns and roads (44%) |
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.
Ibarra
2017: satellite photo from October 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Quito
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Ibarra or Quito?
Quito has more tree cover: 23.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 7.3% around Ibarra, or about 72,571 trees against 22,934.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Ibarra | Quito | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 22.9K | 72.6K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 71.3K | 21.7K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 505K kg | 1.6M 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
Ibarra vs Quito: your questions answered
Is Ibarra cleaner than Quito?
On air quality, yes, right now: Ibarra reads AQI 26 against 52, a gap of 26 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, Ibarra averaged AQI 24 against 37, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Ibarra and Quito today?
In Ibarra, at AQI 26: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Quito, at AQI 52: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Ibarra or Quito?
Quito has lost more: about 430 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 198 ha around Ibarra. 278 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Ibarra or Quito?
Quito has more tree cover: 23.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 7.3% around Ibarra, or about 72,571 trees against 22,934. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Ibarra and Quito need?
Ibarra needs about 71,314 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Quito about 21,677 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Ibarra and Quito 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. Quito is read from a nearby ground station and Ibarra 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 Ibarra vs Quito 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 27, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Ibarra with somewhere else
This place
Ibarra