Air quality comparison · El Salvador, 169 km apart
San Miguel vs Sonsonate Air quality index (AQI) today
Sonsonate has cleaner air than San Miguel right now: AQI 23 (Good) against 56 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sonsonate averaged AQI 50 against 53, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Sonsonate has lost more forest since 2001. Sonsonate has more tree cover.
El Salvador
AQI 56
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 12.4 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 14:00 local
El Salvador
AQI 23
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 4.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 14:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
San Miguel56Sonsonate23
Head to head
San Miguel vs Sonsonate at a glance
Sonsonate is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and San Miguel on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| San Miguel | Sonsonate | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 56 | 23 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 12.4 | 4.7 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 53 | 50 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 858 ha (better) | 996 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 33.1% | 41.1% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in San Miguel and Sonsonate right now?
Sonsonate has cleaner air than San Miguel right now: AQI 23 (Good) against 56 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
San MiguelSonsonate
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).
San Miguel: Estimate · model corrected with 4 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Tegucigalpa and El Progreso. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index.
Sonsonate: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 145 km, e.g. Villa Nueva and Guatemala City. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 145 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sonsonate averaged AQI 50 against 53, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- San Miguel2Sonsonate4
- Average AQI
- San Miguel53Sonsonate50
- Worst day, AQI
- San Miguel66Sonsonate61
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | San Miguel | Sonsonate |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 53 | 46 |
| Nov 5 | 55 | 37 |
| Nov 6 | 59 | 58 |
| Nov 7 | 66 | 61 |
| Nov 8 | 52 | 54 |
| Nov 9 | 45 | 45 |
| Nov 10 | 44 | 47 |
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 San Miguel and Sonsonate today?
San Miguel (AQI 56, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Sonsonate (AQI 23, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- San Miguel
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Sonsonate
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- San Miguel
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Sonsonate
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- San Miguel
- Not needed for most people.
- Sonsonate
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- San Miguel
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Sonsonate
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do San Miguel and Sonsonate compare with the rest of the world?
Right now San Miguel's air is cleaner than 52% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sonsonate's is cleaner than 86%. Within El Salvador, that is 0% and 50% of its 7 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- San Miguel
- Beats 52%
- Sonsonate
- Beats 86%
More tree cover than…
- San Miguel
- Beats 74%
- Sonsonate
- Beats 85%
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, San Miguel or Sonsonate?
Sonsonate has lost more: about 996 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 858 ha around San Miguel. 987 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: 2004, with 121 ha lost.
Worst year: 2005, with 91 ha lost.
| San Miguel | Sonsonate | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 858 ha (better) | 996 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 9.8% | 6.3% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 833 ha (better) | 987 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (91%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (93%) |
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.
San Miguel
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Sonsonate
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, San Miguel or Sonsonate?
Sonsonate has more tree cover: 41.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 33.1% around San Miguel, or about 129,119 trees against 103,987.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| San Miguel | Sonsonate | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 104K | 129K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.3M kg | 2.8M 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
San Miguel vs Sonsonate: your questions answered
Is Sonsonate cleaner than San Miguel?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sonsonate reads AQI 23 against 56, a gap of 33 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, Sonsonate averaged AQI 50 against 53, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in San Miguel and Sonsonate today?
In San Miguel, at AQI 56: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Sonsonate, at AQI 23: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, San Miguel or Sonsonate?
Sonsonate has lost more: about 996 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 858 ha around San Miguel. 987 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, San Miguel or Sonsonate?
Sonsonate has more tree cover: 41.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 33.1% around San Miguel, or about 129,119 trees against 103,987. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do San Miguel and Sonsonate need?
San Miguel needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sonsonate about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are San Miguel and Sonsonate 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 San Miguel vs Sonsonate 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 (Aug 28, 2026 and Sep 10, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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