Air quality comparison · Guatemala, 166 km apart
Jalapa vs Quetzaltenango Air quality index (AQI) today
Jalapa has cleaner air than Quetzaltenango right now: AQI 18 (Good) against 53 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Jalapa averaged AQI 48 against 97, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Jalapa has lost more forest since 2001. Jalapa has more tree cover.
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
Guatemala
AQI 53
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 6.1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 10:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Jalapa18Quetzaltenango53
Head to head
Jalapa vs Quetzaltenango at a glance
Jalapa is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Quetzaltenango on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Jalapa | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 18 (better) | 53 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 3 (better) | 6.1 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 48 (better) | 97 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,190 ha | 476 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 16.7% (better) | 5.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 41.8K (better) | 76.0K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Jalapa and Quetzaltenango right now?
Jalapa has cleaner air than Quetzaltenango right now: AQI 18 (Good) against 53 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
JalapaQuetzaltenango
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).
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.
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 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Jalapa averaged AQI 48 against 97, 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
- Jalapa7Quetzaltenango0
- Average AQI
- Jalapa48Quetzaltenango97
- Worst day, AQI
- Jalapa65Quetzaltenango111
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Jalapa | Quetzaltenango |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 41 | 104 |
| Nov 5 | 43 | 111 |
| Nov 6 | 54 | 103 |
| Nov 7 | 65 | 92 |
| Nov 8 | 39 | 87 |
| Nov 9 | 40 | 87 |
| Nov 10 | 54 | 93 |
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 Jalapa and Quetzaltenango today?
Jalapa (AQI 18, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Quetzaltenango (AQI 53, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Jalapa
- A good day to be active outside.
- Quetzaltenango
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Jalapa
- Open them to air the house.
- Quetzaltenango
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Jalapa
- Not needed.
- Quetzaltenango
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Jalapa
- Not needed.
- Quetzaltenango
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Jalapa and Quetzaltenango compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Jalapa's air is cleaner than 91% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Quetzaltenango's is cleaner than 56%. Within Guatemala, that is 86% and 36% of its 15 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Jalapa
- Beats 91%
- Quetzaltenango
- Beats 56%
More tree cover than…
- Jalapa
- Beats 39%
- 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, Jalapa or Quetzaltenango?
Jalapa has lost more: about 1,190 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 476 ha around Quetzaltenango. 978 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 167 ha lost.
Worst year: 2008, with 87 ha lost.
| Jalapa | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,190 ha | 476 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 9.6% | 4% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 978 ha | 265 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (81%) | 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.
Jalapa
2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast 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, Jalapa or Quetzaltenango?
Jalapa has more tree cover: 16.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.8% around Quetzaltenango, or about 52,465 trees against 18,221.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Jalapa | Quetzaltenango | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 52.5K (better) | 18.2K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 41.8K (better) | 76.0K |
| 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
Jalapa vs Quetzaltenango: your questions answered
Is Jalapa cleaner than Quetzaltenango?
On air quality, yes, right now: Jalapa reads AQI 18 against 53, a gap of 35 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 97, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Jalapa and Quetzaltenango today?
In Jalapa, at AQI 18: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Quetzaltenango, at AQI 53: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Jalapa or Quetzaltenango?
Jalapa has lost more: about 1,190 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 476 ha around Quetzaltenango. 978 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Jalapa or Quetzaltenango?
Jalapa has more tree cover: 16.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.8% around Quetzaltenango, or about 52,465 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 Jalapa and Quetzaltenango need?
Jalapa needs about 41,783 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Quetzaltenango about 76,027 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Jalapa 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. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Jalapa 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 (Sep 10, 2026 and Sep 10, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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