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Alexandria vs Aqaba

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Alexandria edges it, 45 to 44, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Alexandria is stronger on cost of living, climate, getting there & around; Aqaba on safety, healthcare. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

45
Alexandria
out of 100

Egypt's Mediterranean city with a legendary library

Full Alexandria profile →
44
Aqaba
out of 100

Jordan's Red Sea free zone with diving and Wadi Rum

Full Aqaba profile →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricAlexandriaAqaba
Cost of living81 ✓54
Safety4460 ✓
Healthcare5770 ✓
Internet31no data
Visa ease66
Getting there & around23 ✓10
Climate75 ✓58
Air quality3742 ✓
Quality of life4848

Cost

MetricAlexandriaAqaba
Monthly cost, one person$729 ✓$1,354
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricAlexandriaAqaba
Homicides per 100k4.22.3 ✓
Political stability (0–100)49.259.9 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)7174 ✓
Life expectancy69.1 yrs75.6 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricAlexandriaAqaba
Download10.2 Mbpsno data
Upload1.6 Mbpsno data

Visa

MetricAlexandriaAqaba
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Visa-free days, US passportvisa or e-visa requiredvisa or e-visa required
Visa-free days, EU passportvisa or e-visa requiredvisa or e-visa required
Visa-free days, UK passportvisa or e-visa requiredvisa or e-visa required

Getting there and around

MetricAlexandriaAqaba
Non-stop airport destinations24 ✓3
Walkability (1–5, editorial)33
Transit (1–5, editorial)3 ✓1

Climate and air

MetricAlexandriaAqaba
Comfortable months per year9 ✓7
Annual mean PM2.533.2 µg/m³31.3 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Alexandria or Aqaba?
Alexandria is cheaper: about $729 per month versus $1,354 for one person.
Is Alexandria or Aqaba safer?
Aqaba scores higher on safety (60 vs 44), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Alexandria or Aqaba?
M-Lab has no reliable measurement for one of the two cities.

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); 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); WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages). Dataset 2026.09.4. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.