Air quality comparison · Mexico, 1974 km apart
León de los Aldama vs Tijuana Air quality index (AQI) today
Tijuana has cleaner air than León de los Aldama right now: AQI 69 (Moderate) against 78 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, León de los Aldama averaged AQI 48 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Tijuana has lost more forest since 2001. Tijuana has more tree cover.
Mexico
AQI 78
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 24.9 µg/m³1.7× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 18:00 local
Mexico
AQI 69
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 18.5 µg/m³1.2× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 10:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
León de los Aldama78Tijuana69
Head to head
León de los Aldama vs Tijuana at a glance
Tijuana is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and León de los Aldama on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| León de los Aldama | Tijuana | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 78 | 69 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 24.9 | 18.5 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 48 (better) | 58 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 13 ha (better) | 23 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 4.4% | 5.4% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 80.4K | 77.3K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in León de los Aldama and Tijuana right now?
Tijuana has cleaner air than León de los Aldama right now: AQI 69 (Moderate) against 78 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
León de los Aldama's PM2.5 is about 1.7× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Tijuana's PM2.5 is about 1.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Tijuana is read from a nearby ground station and León de los Aldama is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
León de los AldamaTijuana
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).
León de los Aldama: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 185 km, e.g. Santiago de Querétaro and San Pedro Tlaquepaque. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index.
Tijuana: Ground station · La Mesa, 2.6 km away · median of 2 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirNow, Sinaica Mexico.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, León de los Aldama averaged AQI 48 against 58, 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
- León de los Aldama5Tijuana1
- Average AQI
- León de los Aldama48Tijuana58
- Worst day, AQI
- León de los Aldama63Tijuana67
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | León de los Aldama | Tijuana |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 39 | 39 |
| Nov 5 | 33 | 57 |
| Nov 6 | 30 | 67 |
| Nov 7 | 53 | 56 |
| Nov 8 | 63 | 61 |
| Nov 9 | 57 | 61 |
| Nov 10 | 61 | 64 |
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 León de los Aldama and Tijuana 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 León de los Aldama and Tijuana compare with the rest of the world?
Right now León de los Aldama's air is cleaner than 32% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Tijuana's is cleaner than 39%. Within Mexico, that is 37% and 42% of its 114 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- León de los Aldama
- Beats 32%
- Tijuana
- Beats 39%
More tree cover than…
- León de los Aldama
- Beats 9%
- Tijuana
- Beats 11%
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, León de los Aldama or Tijuana?
Tijuana has lost more: about 23 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 13 ha around León de los Aldama. 15 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 6 ha lost.
Worst year: 2007, with 5 ha lost.
| León de los Aldama | Tijuana | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 13 ha (better) | 23 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 9.1% (better) | 16% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 11 ha (better) | 15 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (44%) | Towns and roads (48%) |
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.
León de los Aldama
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Tijuana
2018: satellite photo from September 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, León de los Aldama or Tijuana?
Tijuana has more tree cover: 5.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 4.4% around León de los Aldama, or about 16,965 trees against 13,823.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| León de los Aldama | Tijuana | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 13.8K | 17.0K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 80.4K | 77.3K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 304K kg | 373K 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
León de los Aldama vs Tijuana: your questions answered
Is Tijuana cleaner than León de los Aldama?
On air quality, yes, right now: Tijuana reads AQI 69 against 78, a gap of 9 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, León de los Aldama averaged AQI 48 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in León de los Aldama and Tijuana today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. León de los Aldama reads AQI 78 and Tijuana reads AQI 69.
Which has lost more forest, León de los Aldama or Tijuana?
Tijuana has lost more: about 23 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 13 ha around León de los Aldama. 15 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, León de los Aldama or Tijuana?
Tijuana has more tree cover: 5.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 4.4% around León de los Aldama, or about 16,965 trees against 13,823. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do León de los Aldama and Tijuana need?
León de los Aldama needs about 80,425 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Tijuana about 77,283 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are León de los Aldama and Tijuana 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. Tijuana is read from a nearby ground station and León de los Aldama 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 León de los Aldama vs Tijuana 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 19, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare León de los Aldama with somewhere else
This place
León de los Aldama