---
title: "Living in Karachi as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/karachi
description: "Pakistan's giant port city: food, sea breeze and hard edges"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Karachi, Pakistan

Karachi scores 34.7/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 992 of 1000 cities. There is no open cost-of-living figure yet; expect no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 5.9 Mbps.

Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and its commercial capital, with an Arabian Sea coastline, a huge food scene and winters that stay mild. It is very cheap and English is widely used in business, but the e-visa takes effort for most nationalities, traffic is extreme, power and water supplies are unreliable, and several governments still advise against travel to the city.

Known for: Clifton and Sea View beach, Biryani and street food, Business capital, Traffic and security concerns.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 34.7 |
| Cost of living | — |
| Safety | 33 |
| Healthcare | 46 |
| Internet | 39 |
| Visa ease | 42 |
| Getting there & around | 41 |
| Climate | 58 |
| Air quality | 0 |
| Quality of life | 19 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | — | country | 2026-09 | [^2] |
| Central 1-bedroom rent | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Outskirts 1-bedroom rent (basis of the monthly total) | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Homicide rate (per 100k) | 4.33 | country | 2024 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 31.4 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 56 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 66 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 5.9 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 6.6 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Coming soon (Pending regulatory approval) | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | eTA required (online, before travel) / eTA required (online, before travel) / eTA required (online, before travel) | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (KHI) | 39 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 308 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 1 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 7 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 66.4 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.544 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 19.6 | 6 | 51 | yes |
| Feb | 21.3 | 3 | 55 | yes |
| Mar | 24.6 | 3 | 62 | yes |
| Apr | 27.6 | 1 | 68 | yes |
| May | 29.6 | 17 | 73 | no |
| Jun | 30.5 | 17 | 73 | no |
| Jul | 29.7 | 44 | 76 | no |
| Aug | 28.5 | 73 | 78 | no |
| Sep | 28.1 | 21 | 75 | no |
| Oct | 27.6 | 9 | 66 | yes |
| Nov | 25 | 1 | 54 | yes |
| Dec | 21.2 | 7 | 47 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jinnah International Airport | KHI | 39 | 27 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 39, of which 27 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Islamabad](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/islamabad) (32.8) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/islamabad-vs-karachi)
- [Mandalay](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/mandalay) (37.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/karachi-vs-mandalay)
- [Lahore](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/lahore) (31.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/karachi-vs-lahore)
- [Varanasi](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/varanasi) (43.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/karachi-vs-varanasi)
- [Dhaka](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/dhaka) (45.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/dhaka-vs-karachi)

## FAQ

### How much does it cost to live in Karachi as a digital nomad?

We do not have a reliable monthly cost figure for Karachi yet.

### Is Karachi safe for digital nomads?

Karachi scores 33/100 on safety. Pakistan records 4.33 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 31.4/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Pakistan have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Pakistan as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US need an electronic travel authorisation (eTA), bought online before the trip.

### How fast is the internet in Karachi?

Measured median download speed in Karachi was 5.9 Mbps (upload 6.6 Mbps) across 27,118 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.

### Is Starlink available in Karachi?

Not yet. Starlink's availability map lists Pakistan as coming soon (Pending regulatory approval) as of 2026-10. Roaming plans may work for short stays, but local rules on using them vary.

### Which airports serve Karachi and how many nonstop flights are there?

Karachi is served by Jinnah International Airport (KHI) with 39 nonstop destinations, of which 27 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

### When is the best time of year to be in Karachi?

The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 67°F (20°C) in Jan to 87°F (31°C) in Jun (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Karachi or Islamabad: which is better for digital nomads?

Islamabad is the city with the closest factor profile to Karachi in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.

## Plan a trip

[Where to stay in Karachi](https://navoy.io/hotels/pakistan/karachi) on Navoy, the AI travel planner behind Nostos.

## Sources

[^1]: City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^2]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^3]: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^4]: Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, dataUNODC. UNODC data, free to reuse with attribution. https://data.unodc.org/datareport/hom-victim (retrieved 2026-10-12)
[^5]: Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^6]: UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/uhc-index-of-service-coverage (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^7]: Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^8]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^9]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^10]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^11]: Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. https://github.com/ilyankou/passport-index-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^12]: Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-24)
[^13]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^14]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04), Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis. CC BY 4.0. https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/surface-pm2-5/ (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^16]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)
[^17]: Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^18]: EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. https://www.ef.com/epi/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)

HTML page: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/karachi