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Addis Ababa vs Harare

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Harare edges it, 42 to 40, winning 6 of the 9 factors. Addis Ababa is stronger on getting there & around; Harare on internet, safety, quality of life. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 3.6 of 39 points (scores 29/100)Healthcare: 4.4 of 39 points (scores 35/100)Internet: 2.1 of 39 points (scores 17/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 39 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 8.1 of 39 points (scores 65/100)Climate: 7.3 of 39 points (scores 58/100)Air quality: 8.2 of 39 points (scores 66/100)Quality of life: 1.5 of 39 points (scores 12/100)40
Addis Ababa
out of 100

Africa's diplomatic capital at altitude

Full Addis Ababa profile →Where to stay in Addis Ababa →
Safety: 5.2 of 42 points (scores 42/100)Healthcare: 4.6 of 42 points (scores 37/100)Internet: 4.1 of 42 points (scores 33/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 42 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 3.8 of 42 points (scores 30/100)Climate: 8.3 of 42 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 8.8 of 42 points (scores 70/100)Quality of life: 2.9 of 42 points (scores 23/100)42
Harare
out of 100

Zimbabwe's leafy capital, friendly but economically fragile

Full Harare profile →Where to stay in Harare →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricAddis AbabaHarare
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety2942 ✓
Healthcare3537 ✓
Internet1733 ✓
Visa ease3434
Getting there & around65 ✓30
Climate5867 ✓
Air quality6670 ✓
Quality of life1223 ✓

Cost

MetricAddis AbabaHarare
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno datano data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricAddis AbabaHarare
Homicides per 100k6.7 ✓6.76
Political stability (0–100)33.150.3 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)3359 ✓
Life expectancy67.8 yrs ✓58.5 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricAddis AbabaHarare
Download2.2 Mbps5.2 Mbps ✓
Upload1.1 Mbps2.1 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricAddis AbabaHarare
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival
Entry, EU passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival
Entry, UK passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival

Getting there and around

MetricAddis AbabaHarare
Non-stop airport destinations149 ✓13
Walkability (1–5, editorial)22
Transit (1–5, editorial)3 ✓1

Climate and air

MetricAddis AbabaHarare
Comfortable months per year78 ✓
Annual mean PM2.520.5 µg/m³18.4 µg/m³ ✓

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Addis Ababa or Harare?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Addis Ababa or Harare safer?
Harare scores higher on safety (42 vs 29), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Addis Ababa or Harare?
Harare: a measured median of 5.2 Mbps versus 2.2 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.