Air quality comparison · Jamaica, 48 km apart
Kingston vs May Pen Air quality index (AQI) today
Kingston has cleaner air than May Pen right now: AQI 52 (Moderate) against 53 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Kingston averaged AQI 42 against 45, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. May Pen has lost more forest since 2001. May Pen has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kingston52May Pen53
Head to head
Kingston vs May Pen at a glance
Kingston and May Pen are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kingston | May Pen | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 52 (better) | 53 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 10.9 | 9.9 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 42 (better) | 45 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 466 ha (better) | 1,280 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 14.5% | 46.9% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 48.7K | 0 (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kingston and May Pen right now?
Kingston has cleaner air than May Pen right now: AQI 52 (Moderate) against 53 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
KingstonMay Pen
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).
Kingston: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
May Pen: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Kingston averaged AQI 42 against 45, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Kingston5May Pen1
- Average AQI
- Kingston42May Pen45
- Worst day, AQI
- Kingston52May Pen56
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Kingston | May Pen |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 31 | 30 |
| Nov 6 | 49 | 51 |
| Nov 7 | 52 | 53 |
| Nov 8 | 34 | 36 |
| Nov 9 | 40 | 44 |
| Nov 10 | 47 | 56 |
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 Kingston and May Pen 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 Kingston and May Pen compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kingston's air is cleaner than 60% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and May Pen's is cleaner than 59%. Within Jamaica, that is 40% and 0% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kingston
- Beats 60%
- May Pen
- Beats 59%
More tree cover than…
- Kingston
- Beats 33%
- May Pen
- Beats 90%
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, Kingston or May Pen?
May Pen has lost more: about 1,280 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 466 ha around Kingston. 724 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: 2016, with 54 ha lost.
Worst year: 2005, with 227 ha lost.
| Kingston | May Pen | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 466 ha (better) | 1,280 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 5.6% (better) | 8% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 388 ha (better) | 724 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (52%) | Shifting farming (40%) |
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.
Kingston
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
May Pen
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kingston or May Pen?
May Pen has more tree cover: 46.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 14.5% around Kingston, or about 147,341 trees against 45,553.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kingston | May Pen | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 45.6K | 147K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 48.7K | 0 (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.0M kg | 3.2M 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
Kingston vs May Pen: your questions answered
Is Kingston cleaner than May Pen?
On air quality, yes, right now: Kingston reads AQI 52 against 53, a gap of 1 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Kingston averaged AQI 42 against 45, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kingston and May Pen today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Kingston reads AQI 52 and May Pen reads AQI 53.
Which has lost more forest, Kingston or May Pen?
May Pen has lost more: about 1,280 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 466 ha around Kingston. 724 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kingston or May Pen?
May Pen has more tree cover: 46.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 14.5% around Kingston, or about 147,341 trees against 45,553. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kingston and May Pen need?
Kingston needs about 48,695 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and May Pen about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 48 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Kingston and May Pen 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 Kingston vs May Pen 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 15, 2026 and Sep 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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