Which is cheaper, Addis Ababa or Zanzibar City?

We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.

Is Addis Ababa or Zanzibar City safer?

Zanzibar City scores higher on safety (45 vs 25), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Addis Ababa or Zanzibar City?

Zanzibar City: a measured median of 2.6 Mbps versus 2.2 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Addis Ababa vs Zanzibar City

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Zanzibar City edges it, 32 to 29, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Addis Ababa is stronger on getting there & around; Zanzibar City on safety. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Addis Ababa

out of 100

Africa's diplomatic capital at altitude

Full Addis Ababa profile →

Zanzibar City

out of 100

Stone Town and the island beaches beyond

Full Zanzibar City profile →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Addis Ababa	Zanzibar City
Cost of living	no data	no data
Safety	25	45 ✓
Healthcare	32	40 ✓
Internet	2	6 ✓
Visa ease	6	6
Getting there & around	36 ✓	20
Climate	58 ✓	50
Air quality	66	71 ✓
Quality of life	11	19 ✓

Cost

Metric	Addis Ababa	Zanzibar City
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	no data	no data
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Addis Ababa	Zanzibar City
Homicides per 100k	6.7 ✓	8.3
Political stability (0–100)	33.7	59.2 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)	33	49 ✓
Life expectancy	67.8 yrs ✓	66.8 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Addis Ababa	Zanzibar City
Download	2.2 Mbps	2.6 Mbps ✓
Upload	1.1 Mbps	1.5 Mbps ✓

Visa

Metric	Addis Ababa	Zanzibar City
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Visa-free days, US passport	visa or e-visa required	visa or e-visa required
Visa-free days, EU passport	visa or e-visa required	visa or e-visa required
Visa-free days, UK passport	visa or e-visa required	visa or e-visa required

Getting there and around

Metric	Addis Ababa	Zanzibar City
Non-stop airport destinations	149 ✓	32
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	2	4 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	3 ✓	1

Climate and air

Metric	Addis Ababa	Zanzibar City
Comfortable months per year	7 ✓	6
Annual mean PM2.5	20.5 µg/m³	17.9 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Addis Ababa or Zanzibar City?: We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Addis Ababa or Zanzibar City safer?: Zanzibar City scores higher on safety (45 vs 25), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Addis Ababa or Zanzibar City?: Zanzibar City: a measured median of 2.6 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; 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). Dataset 2026.09.4. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.