Air quality comparison · Democratic Republic of the Congo, 938 km apart
Kinshasa vs Mbuji-Mayi Air quality index (AQI) today
Mbuji-Mayi has cleaner air than Kinshasa right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 121 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Mbuji-Mayi averaged AQI 53 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Kinshasa has lost more forest since 2001. Mbuji-Mayi has more tree cover.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
AQI 121
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 43.8 µg/m³2.9× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 19:00 local
Democratic Republic of the Congo
AQI 32
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 5.3 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 07:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kinshasa121Mbuji-Mayi32
Head to head
Kinshasa vs Mbuji-Mayi at a glance
Mbuji-Mayi is ahead on 6 of 6 measures, and Kinshasa on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kinshasa | Mbuji-Mayi | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 121 | 32 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 43.8 | 5.3 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 58 | 53 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 100 ha | 25 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 1.0% | 26.8% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 106K | 10.1K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi right now?
Mbuji-Mayi has cleaner air than Kinshasa right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 121 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Kinshasa's PM2.5 is about 2.9× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Kinshasa is read from a nearby ground station and Mbuji-Mayi is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
KinshasaMbuji-Mayi
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).
Kinshasa: Ground station · WASARU / KINAQ Huilleries, 2.1 km away · median of 3 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, KINAQ Huilleries.
Mbuji-Mayi: 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, Mbuji-Mayi averaged AQI 53 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Kinshasa2Mbuji-Mayi4
- Average AQI
- Kinshasa58Mbuji-Mayi53
- Worst day, AQI
- Kinshasa70Mbuji-Mayi63
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Kinshasa | Mbuji-Mayi |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 58 | 63 |
| Nov 6 | 48 | 32 |
| Nov 7 | 47 | 61 |
| Nov 8 | 60 | 48 |
| Nov 9 | 64 | 60 |
| Nov 10 | 70 | 55 |
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 Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi today?
Kinshasa (AQI 121, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Mbuji-Mayi (AQI 32, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Kinshasa
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
- Mbuji-Mayi
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Kinshasa
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Kinshasa
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Kinshasa
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kinshasa's air is cleaner than 16% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Mbuji-Mayi's is cleaner than 77%. Within Democratic Republic of the Congo, that is 0% and 92% of its 38 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kinshasa
- Beats 16%
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Beats 77%
More tree cover than…
- Kinshasa
- Beats 2%
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Beats 62%
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, Kinshasa or Mbuji-Mayi?
Kinshasa has lost more: about 100 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 25 ha around Mbuji-Mayi. 66 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: 2023, with 29 ha lost.
Worst year: 2004, with 6 ha lost.
| Kinshasa | Mbuji-Mayi | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 100 ha | 25 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 9.5% (better) | 15% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 66 ha | 25 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (64%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (74%) |
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.
Kinshasa
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Mbuji-Mayi
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kinshasa or Mbuji-Mayi?
Mbuji-Mayi has more tree cover: 26.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.0% around Kinshasa, or about 84,195 trees against 3,129.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kinshasa | Mbuji-Mayi | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 3.1K | 84.2K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 106K | 10.1K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 68.8K kg | 1.9M 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
Kinshasa vs Mbuji-Mayi: your questions answered
Is Mbuji-Mayi cleaner than Kinshasa?
On air quality, yes, right now: Mbuji-Mayi reads AQI 32 against 121, a gap of 89 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, Mbuji-Mayi averaged AQI 53 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi today?
In Kinshasa, at AQI 121: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. In Mbuji-Mayi, at AQI 32: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Kinshasa or Mbuji-Mayi?
Kinshasa has lost more: about 100 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 25 ha around Mbuji-Mayi. 66 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kinshasa or Mbuji-Mayi?
Mbuji-Mayi has more tree cover: 26.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.0% around Kinshasa, or about 84,195 trees against 3,129. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi need?
Kinshasa needs about 106,387 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Mbuji-Mayi about 10,053 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi 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. Kinshasa is read from a nearby ground station and Mbuji-Mayi 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 Kinshasa vs Mbuji-Mayi 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 9, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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