Mayagüez vs Punta Cana
Tree cover and air quality for both, measured the same way: Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km radius from each city centre, and the live US EPA air quality index. Same radius and same index, so the two numbers compare directly.
Punta Cana has more tree cover — 55.1% against 52.9%.
Mayagüez has cleaner air right now — AQI 19 against 35.
- Tree cover gap
- 2.2 points
- Punta Cana is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 16 AQI
- Mayagüez is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 16.2K
- Punta Cana has more standing.
Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
52.9%
55.1%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
19 · Good
35 · Good
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
157K
173K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
0
0
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
3.5M kg
3.8M kg
Air quality in detail
What each city is breathing
Concentrations in µg/m³, measured at the same moment as the index above. Lower is better in every row. Both are modelled, with no ground station close enough to either.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
3.5 µg/m³
8.4 µg/m³
PM10
Coarser particles — dust, pollen, road grit.
5.1 µg/m³
13.7 µg/m³
Nitrogen dioxide
Mostly traffic and combustion.
0.7 µg/m³
1 µg/m³
Ozone
Forms in sunlight; peaks on hot, still afternoons.
31 µg/m³
44 µg/m³
The last week, day by day
A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon. The week says whether it was the weather or the place.
| Day | Mayagüez | Punta Cana |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Sept | 17 | 21 |
| 22 Sept | 18 | 24 |
| 23 Sept | 16 | 22 |
| 24 Sept | 16 | 21 |
| 25 Sept | 22 | 32 |
| 26 Sept | 48 | 65 |
| 27 Sept | 33 | 50 |
Reading these numbers
What is actually being measured
Tree cover
The share of ground under canopy inside a 2 km radius of each city centre, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It is a measurement of that circle, not of the whole municipality — which is exactly what makes the two comparable, since city boundaries are drawn to wildly different rules around the world. Punta Cana leads here at 55.1%.
Air quality index
The live US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations — ground stations where a city has them nearby, and a model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so this is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place: Mayagüez reads 19 (good) and Punta Cana reads 35 (good) right now.
Frequently asked
Mayagüez and Punta Cana, answered
Which has more trees, Mayagüez or Punta Cana?
Punta Cana, with roughly 173,102 trees inside its 2 km radius against 156,884. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Punta Cana has the denser canopy at 55.1%.
Which has better air quality, Mayagüez or Punta Cana?
Mayagüez right now, at AQI 19 against 35 — a gap of 16 points. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day.
How many more trees does each city need?
Mayagüez needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target, and Punta Cana about 0. The target is the same share of ground for both, so the figures are directly comparable.
Are these two measured the same way?
Yes — that is the point of the page. Identical radius, identical satellite source at 10 m detail, and the same US EPA index for air. Nothing here is adjusted for population, city limits or climate, so the numbers describe the same-sized circle of ground in each place.
Keep going
Other comparisons nearby
- Mayagüez vs Arecibo53% tree cover · AQI 14Compare
- Mayagüez vs Ponce26% tree cover · AQI 36Compare
- Mayagüez vs Bayamón25% tree cover · AQI 8Compare
- Mayagüez vs San Juan16% tree cover · AQI 8Compare
- Mayagüez vs Salvaleón de Higüey37% tree cover · AQI 40Compare
- Mayagüez vs La Romana28% tree cover · AQI 34Compare
Build your own
Compare Mayagüez with somewhere else
This place
Mayagüez
Want a different pair? Browse comparisons or measure any address.