Air quality comparison · Philippines, 864 km apart
Manila vs Zamboanga Air quality index (AQI) today
Zamboanga has cleaner air than Manila right now: AQI 16 (Good) against 55 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 44, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Zamboanga has lost more forest since 2001. Zamboanga has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Manila55Zamboanga16
Head to head
Manila vs Zamboanga at a glance
Zamboanga is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Manila on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Manila | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 55 | 16 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 11.2 | 2.9 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 44 | 20 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 7 ha (better) | 559 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 10.0% | 22.5% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 60.2K | 16.6K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Manila and Zamboanga right now?
Zamboanga has cleaner air than Manila right now: AQI 16 (Good) against 55 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Manila is read from a nearby ground station and Zamboanga is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
ManilaZamboanga
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).
Manila: Ground station · San Sebastian Residences, 1 km away · median of 32 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Clarity, EGT, DLSU, CS.
Zamboanga: 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, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 44, 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
- Manila0Zamboanga6
- Average AQI
- Manila44Zamboanga20
- Worst day, AQI
- Manila55Zamboanga34
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Manila | Zamboanga |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 55 | 34 |
| Nov 6 | 53 | 21 |
| Nov 7 | 39 | 14 |
| Nov 8 | 38 | 10 |
| Nov 9 | 31 | 15 |
| Nov 10 | 45 | 24 |
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 Manila and Zamboanga today?
Manila (AQI 55, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Zamboanga (AQI 16, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Manila
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Zamboanga
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Manila
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Zamboanga
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Manila
- Not needed for most people.
- Zamboanga
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Manila
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Zamboanga
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Manila and Zamboanga compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Manila's air is cleaner than 53% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Zamboanga's is cleaner than 93%. Within Philippines, that is 32% and 89% of its 100 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Manila
- Beats 53%
- Zamboanga
- Beats 93%
More tree cover than…
- Manila
- Beats 21%
- Zamboanga
- Beats 52%
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, Manila or Zamboanga?
Zamboanga has lost more: about 559 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 7 ha around Manila. 542 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: 2019, with 2 ha lost.
Worst year: 2007, with 84 ha lost.
| Manila | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 7 ha (better) | 559 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3.4% (better) | 8% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 4 ha (better) | 542 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (65%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (64%) |
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.
Manila
2017: satellite photo from May 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Zamboanga
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Manila or Zamboanga?
Zamboanga has more tree cover: 22.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.0% around Manila, or about 49,763 trees against 30,096.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Manila | Zamboanga | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 30.1K | 49.8K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 60.2K | 16.6K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 662K kg | 1.1M 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
Manila vs Zamboanga: your questions answered
Is Zamboanga cleaner than Manila?
On air quality, yes, right now: Zamboanga reads AQI 16 against 55, a gap of 39 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, Zamboanga averaged AQI 20 against 44, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Manila and Zamboanga today?
In Manila, at AQI 55: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Zamboanga, at AQI 16: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Manila or Zamboanga?
Zamboanga has lost more: about 559 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 7 ha around Manila. 542 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Manila or Zamboanga?
Zamboanga has more tree cover: 22.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 10.0% around Manila, or about 49,763 trees against 30,096. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Manila and Zamboanga need?
Manila needs about 60,193 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Zamboanga about 16,588 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Manila and Zamboanga 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. Manila is read from a nearby ground station and Zamboanga 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 Manila vs Zamboanga 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 13, 2026 and Sep 5, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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