Air quality comparison · Malaysia, 545 km apart
Johor Bahru vs Kota Bharu Air quality index (AQI) today
Kota Bharu has cleaner air than Johor Bahru right now: AQI 62 (Moderate) against 72 (Moderate).
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, Kota Bharu averaged AQI 23 against 56, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Johor Bahru has lost more forest since 2001. Johor Bahru has more tree cover.
Malaysia
AQI 72
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 20.4 µg/m³1.4× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 01:00 local
Malaysia
AQI 62
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 15 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 01:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Johor Bahru72Kota Bharu62
Head to head
Johor Bahru vs Kota Bharu at a glance
Kota Bharu is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Johor Bahru on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Johor Bahru | Kota Bharu | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 72 | 62 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 20.4 | 15 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 56 | 23 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,970 ha | 1,190 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 22.3% (better) | 20.1% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 20.1K (better) | 29.3K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu right now?
Kota Bharu has cleaner air than Johor Bahru right now: AQI 62 (Moderate) against 72 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Johor Bahru's PM2.5 is about 1.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
Johor BahruKota Bharu
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).
Johor Bahru: Ground station · Larkin Lama, Johor, Malaysia, 4 km away · median of 2 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System, NEA - Singapore National Environment Agency.
Kota Bharu: Ground station · Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, 2.7 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Kota Bharu averaged AQI 23 against 56, 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
- Johor Bahru0Kota Bharu7
- Average AQI
- Johor Bahru56Kota Bharu23
- Worst day, AQI
- Johor Bahru73Kota Bharu27
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Johor Bahru | Kota Bharu |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 73 | 27 |
| Nov 6 | 63 | 25 |
| Nov 7 | 48 | 20 |
| Nov 8 | 53 | 19 |
| Nov 9 | 49 | 17 |
| Nov 10 | 50 | 25 |
| Nov 11 | 57 | 25 |
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 Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Johor Bahru's air is cleaner than 36% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Kota Bharu's is cleaner than 45%. Within Malaysia, that is 35% and 44% of its 56 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Johor Bahru
- Beats 36%
- Kota Bharu
- Beats 45%
More tree cover than…
- Johor Bahru
- Beats 52%
- Kota Bharu
- Beats 47%
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, Johor Bahru or Kota Bharu?
Johor Bahru has lost more: about 1,970 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,190 ha around Kota Bharu. 1,970 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: 2018, with 170 ha lost.
Worst year: 2024, with 208 ha lost.
| Johor Bahru | Kota Bharu | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,970 ha | 1,190 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 27% | 12% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1,970 ha | 1,190 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Holding steady | Speeding up |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (79%) | Towns and roads (62%) |
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.
Johor Bahru
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Kota Bharu
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km south of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Johor Bahru or Kota Bharu?
Johor Bahru has more tree cover: 22.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 20.1% around Kota Bharu, or about 58,218 trees against 59,547.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Johor Bahru | Kota Bharu | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 58.2K | 59.5K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 20.1K (better) | 29.3K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.3M kg | 1.3M 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
Johor Bahru vs Kota Bharu: your questions answered
Is Kota Bharu cleaner than Johor Bahru?
On air quality, yes, right now: Kota Bharu reads AQI 62 against 72, a gap of 10 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, Kota Bharu averaged AQI 23 against 56, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Johor Bahru reads AQI 72 and Kota Bharu reads AQI 62.
Which has lost more forest, Johor Bahru or Kota Bharu?
Johor Bahru has lost more: about 1,970 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,190 ha around Kota Bharu. 1,970 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Johor Bahru or Kota Bharu?
Johor Bahru has more tree cover: 22.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 20.1% around Kota Bharu, or about 58,218 trees against 59,547. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu need?
Johor Bahru needs about 20,102 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Kota Bharu about 29,329 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu 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 Johor Bahru vs Kota Bharu 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 27, 2026 and Aug 27, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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