Air quality comparison · Indonesia, 1418 km apart
Jakarta vs Medan Air quality index (AQI) today
Jakarta has cleaner air than Medan right now: AQI 108 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 154 (Unhealthy).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Medan averaged AQI 100 against 173, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Medan has lost more forest since 2001. Jakarta has more tree cover.
Indonesia
AQI 108
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 38.3 µg/m³2.6× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 23:00 local
Indonesia
AQI 154
Unhealthy
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 59.4 µg/m³4.0× WHO guideline
- 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.
Jakarta108Medan154
Head to head
Jakarta vs Medan at a glance
Jakarta is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Medan on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Jakarta | Medan | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 108 (better) | 154 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 38.3 (better) | 59.4 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 173 | 100 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 7 ha (better) | 505 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 17.8% (better) | 15.7% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 53.8K (better) | 76.3K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Jakarta and Medan right now?
Jakarta has cleaner air than Medan right now: AQI 108 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 154 (Unhealthy). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Jakarta's PM2.5 is about 2.6× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Medan's PM2.5 is about 4.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
JakartaMedan
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).
Jakarta: Ground station · Kemayoran, Indonesia, 6.6 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, BMKG | Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi dan Geofisika.
Medan: Ground station · Medan, Indonesia, 20.4 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, BMKG | Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi dan Geofisika.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Medan averaged AQI 100 against 173, 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
- Jakarta0Medan6
- Average AQI
- Jakarta173Medan100
- Worst day, AQI
- Jakarta187Medan111
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Jakarta | Medan |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 157 | 93 |
| Nov 6 | 172 | 103 |
| Nov 7 | 166 | 110 |
| Nov 8 | 181 | 104 |
| Nov 9 | 176 | 81 |
| Nov 10 | 187 | 111 |
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 Jakarta and Medan today?
Jakarta (AQI 108, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Medan (AQI 154, Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Exercise outdoors
- Jakarta
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
- Medan
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it.
Windows
- Jakarta
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
- Medan
- Keep them closed.
Masks
- Jakarta
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
- Medan
- Wear an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Jakarta
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
- Medan
- Run one.
Against everywhere else
How do Jakarta and Medan compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Jakarta's air is cleaner than 19% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Medan's is cleaner than 10%. Within Indonesia, that is 34% and 15% of its 156 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Jakarta
- Beats 19%
- Medan
- Beats 10%
More tree cover than…
- Jakarta
- Beats 41%
- Medan
- Beats 36%
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, Jakarta or Medan?
Medan has lost more: about 505 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 7 ha around Jakarta. 499 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: 2006, with 3 ha lost.
Worst year: 2014, with 149 ha lost.
| Jakarta | Medan | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 7 ha (better) | 505 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3.9% (better) | 22% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 5 ha (better) | 499 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (44%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (50%) |
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.
Jakarta
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Medan
2021: satellite photo from February 2021 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Jakarta or Medan?
Jakarta has more tree cover: 17.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.7% around Medan, or about 55,697 trees against 49,323.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Jakarta | Medan | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 55.7K (better) | 49.3K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 53.8K (better) | 76.3K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg (better) | 1.1M 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
Jakarta vs Medan: your questions answered
Is Jakarta cleaner than Medan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Jakarta reads AQI 108 against 154, a gap of 46 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, Medan averaged AQI 100 against 173, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Jakarta and Medan today?
In Jakarta, at AQI 108: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. In Medan, at AQI 154: Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Which has lost more forest, Jakarta or Medan?
Medan has lost more: about 505 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 7 ha around Jakarta. 499 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Jakarta or Medan?
Jakarta has more tree cover: 17.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.7% around Medan, or about 55,697 trees against 49,323. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Jakarta and Medan need?
Jakarta needs about 53,819 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Medan about 76,341 to reach 40%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Jakarta and Medan 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 Jakarta vs Medan 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 5, 2026 and Sep 9, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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