Air quality comparison · Jamaica, 49 km apart
Ocho Rios vs Spanish Town Air quality index (AQI) today
Spanish Town has cleaner air than Ocho Rios right now: AQI 26 (Good) against 41 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ocho Rios averaged AQI 30 against 41, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Ocho Rios has lost more forest since 2001. Ocho Rios has more tree cover.
Jamaica
AQI 41
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 6.9 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 04:00 local
Jamaica
AQI 26
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 4.4 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 15:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Ocho Rios41Spanish Town26
Head to head
Ocho Rios vs Spanish Town at a glance
Spanish Town is ahead on 3 of 6 measures, and Ocho Rios on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Ocho Rios | Spanish Town | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 41 | 26 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 6.9 | 4.4 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 30 (better) | 41 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,820 ha | 1,320 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 60.2% (better) | 36.9% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Ocho Rios and Spanish Town right now?
Spanish Town has cleaner air than Ocho Rios right now: AQI 26 (Good) against 41 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
Ocho RiosSpanish Town
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).
Ocho Rios: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Spanish Town: 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?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ocho Rios averaged AQI 30 against 41, 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
- Ocho Rios6Spanish Town0
- Average AQI
- Ocho Rios30Spanish Town41
- Worst day, AQI
- Ocho Rios39Spanish Town52
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Ocho Rios | Spanish Town |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 30 | 31 |
| Nov 6 | 33 | 49 |
| Nov 7 | 26 | 52 |
| Nov 8 | 25 | 34 |
| Nov 9 | 27 | 40 |
| Nov 10 | 39 | 40 |
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 Ocho Rios and Spanish Town today?
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Both are in the same EPA band today (Good), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
A good day to be active outside.
Windows
Open them to air the house.
Masks
Not needed.
Air purifier
Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Ocho Rios and Spanish Town compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Ocho Rios's air is cleaner than 68% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Spanish Town's is cleaner than 83%. Within Jamaica, that is 80% and 100% of its 6 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Ocho Rios
- Beats 68%
- Spanish Town
- Beats 83%
More tree cover than…
- Ocho Rios
- Beats 96%
- Spanish Town
- Beats 80%
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, Ocho Rios or Spanish Town?
Ocho Rios has lost more: about 1,820 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,320 ha around Spanish Town. 1,620 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 212 ha lost.
Worst year: 2014, with 214 ha lost.
| Ocho Rios | Spanish Town | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,820 ha | 1,320 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 14% | 9.3% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1,620 ha | 1,040 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Holding steady | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (47%) | Towns and roads (40%) |
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.
Ocho Rios
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Spanish Town
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Ocho Rios or Spanish Town?
Ocho Rios has more tree cover: 60.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 36.9% around Spanish Town, or about 120,094 trees against 115,925.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Ocho Rios | Spanish Town | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 120K (better) | 116K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.6M kg (better) | 2.6M kg |
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
Ocho Rios vs Spanish Town: your questions answered
Is Spanish Town cleaner than Ocho Rios?
On air quality, yes, right now: Spanish Town reads AQI 26 against 41, a gap of 15 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ocho Rios averaged AQI 30 against 41, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Ocho Rios and Spanish Town today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Ocho Rios reads AQI 41 and Spanish Town reads AQI 26.
Which has lost more forest, Ocho Rios or Spanish Town?
Ocho Rios has lost more: about 1,820 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,320 ha around Spanish Town. 1,620 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Ocho Rios or Spanish Town?
Ocho Rios has more tree cover: 60.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 36.9% around Spanish Town, or about 120,094 trees against 115,925. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Ocho Rios and Spanish Town need?
Ocho Rios needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Spanish Town about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 49 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Ocho Rios and Spanish Town 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 Ocho Rios vs Spanish Town 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 25, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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