Air quality comparison · Democratic Republic of the Congo, 748 km apart
Lubumbashi vs Mbuji-Mayi Air quality index (AQI) today
Mbuji-Mayi has cleaner air than Lubumbashi right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 63 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Mbuji-Mayi averaged AQI 52 against 66, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Lubumbashi has lost more forest since 2001. Mbuji-Mayi has more tree cover.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
AQI 63
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 16.7 µg/m³1.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 07:00 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.
Lubumbashi63Mbuji-Mayi32
Head to head
Lubumbashi vs Mbuji-Mayi at a glance
Mbuji-Mayi is ahead on 6 of 6 measures, and Lubumbashi on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Lubumbashi | Mbuji-Mayi | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 63 | 32 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 16.7 | 5.3 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 66 | 52 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 124 ha | 25 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 12.0% | 26.8% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 56.5K | 10.1K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi right now?
Mbuji-Mayi has cleaner air than Lubumbashi right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 63 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Lubumbashi's PM2.5 is about 1.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
LubumbashiMbuji-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).
Lubumbashi: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
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 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Mbuji-Mayi averaged AQI 52 against 66, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 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
- Lubumbashi1Mbuji-Mayi6
- Average AQI
- Lubumbashi66Mbuji-Mayi52
- Worst day, AQI
- Lubumbashi91Mbuji-Mayi63
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Lubumbashi | Mbuji-Mayi |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 78 | 63 |
| Nov 6 | 91 | 32 |
| Nov 7 | 63 | 61 |
| Nov 8 | 39 | 48 |
| Nov 9 | 65 | 60 |
| Nov 10 | 66 | 55 |
| Nov 11 | 63 | 45 |
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 Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi today?
Lubumbashi (AQI 63, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Mbuji-Mayi (AQI 32, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Lubumbashi
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Mbuji-Mayi
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Lubumbashi
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Lubumbashi
- Not needed for most people.
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Lubumbashi
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Lubumbashi's air is cleaner than 45% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Mbuji-Mayi's is cleaner than 78%. Within Democratic Republic of the Congo, that is 22% and 92% of its 38 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Lubumbashi
- Beats 45%
- Mbuji-Mayi
- Beats 78%
More tree cover than…
- Lubumbashi
- Beats 26%
- 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, Lubumbashi or Mbuji-Mayi?
Lubumbashi has lost more: about 124 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 25 ha around Mbuji-Mayi. 124 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: 2014, with 21 ha lost.
Worst year: 2004, with 6 ha lost.
| Lubumbashi | Mbuji-Mayi | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 124 ha | 25 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 26% | 15% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 124 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 (93%) | 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.
Lubumbashi
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in 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, Lubumbashi or Mbuji-Mayi?
Mbuji-Mayi has more tree cover: 26.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 12.0% around Lubumbashi, or about 84,195 trees against 37,699.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Lubumbashi | Mbuji-Mayi | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 37.7K | 84.2K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 56.5K | 10.1K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 829K 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
Lubumbashi vs Mbuji-Mayi: your questions answered
Is Mbuji-Mayi cleaner than Lubumbashi?
On air quality, yes, right now: Mbuji-Mayi reads AQI 32 against 63, a gap of 31 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, Mbuji-Mayi averaged AQI 52 against 66, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi today?
In Lubumbashi, at AQI 63: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Mbuji-Mayi, at AQI 32: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Lubumbashi or Mbuji-Mayi?
Lubumbashi has lost more: about 124 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 25 ha around Mbuji-Mayi. 124 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Lubumbashi or Mbuji-Mayi?
Mbuji-Mayi has more tree cover: 26.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 12.0% around Lubumbashi, or about 84,195 trees against 37,699. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi need?
Lubumbashi needs about 56,549 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, 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 Lubumbashi 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. 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 Lubumbashi 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 18, 2026 and Sep 9, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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