Which is cheaper, Austin or New Orleans?

New Orleans is cheaper: about $2,778 per month versus $2,942 for one person.

Is Austin or New Orleans safer?

Austin scores higher on safety (54 vs 54), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Austin or New Orleans?

Austin: a measured median of 87 Mbps versus 52.4 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Austin vs New Orleans

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Austin edges it, 60 to 60, winning 1 of the 9 factors. Austin is stronger on internet; New Orleans on nothing outright. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Austin

out of 100

Tech-town Texas with live music

Full Austin profile →

New Orleans

out of 100

Music, food and a walkable French Quarter

Full New Orleans profile →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Austin	New Orleans
Cost of living	20	23 ✓
Safety	54	54
Healthcare	79	79
Internet	80 ✓	68
Visa ease	53	53
Getting there & around	23	27 ✓
Climate	50	50
Air quality	90	93 ✓
Quality of life	95	95

Cost

Metric	Austin	New Orleans
Monthly cost, one person	$2,942	$2,778 ✓
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Austin	New Orleans
Homicides per 100k	5.8	5.8
Political stability (0–100)	64.3	64.3
UHC service coverage (0–100)	88	88
Life expectancy	76.4 yrs	76.4 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Austin	New Orleans
Download	87 Mbps ✓	52.4 Mbps
Upload	16.3 Mbps ✓	7.8 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Austin	New Orleans
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Visa-free days, US passport	unlimited	unlimited
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	Austin	New Orleans
Non-stop airport destinations	90 ✓	50
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	2	4 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	Austin	New Orleans
Comfortable months per year	6	6
Annual mean PM2.5	9.4 µg/m³	8.2 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Austin or New Orleans?: New Orleans is cheaper: about $2,778 per month versus $2,942 for one person.
Is Austin or New Orleans safer?: Austin scores higher on safety (54 vs 54), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Austin or New Orleans?: Austin: a measured median of 87 Mbps versus 52.4 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); 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); Regional Price Parities by metropolitan area, 2024 (all items). Dataset 2026.09.4. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.