NavoyNostos

Avignon vs Saint-Étienne

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights the two cities tie at 64. Neither leads on any factor by 10 points or more. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 3.4 of 64 points (scores 31/100)Safety: 7.6 of 64 points (scores 68/100)Healthcare: 9.7 of 64 points (scores 87/100)Internet: 8.8 of 64 points (scores 80/100)Visa ease: 6.7 of 64 points (scores 61/100)Getting there & around: 4.1 of 64 points (scores 37/100)Climate: 4.6 of 64 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 9.6 of 64 points (scores 86/100)Quality of life: 9.0 of 64 points (scores 81/100)64
Avignon
out of 100

Walled papal city in Provence, with a TGV to Paris in about 2 h 40

Full Avignon profile →Plan a trip to Avignon →
Cost of living: 3.4 of 64 points (scores 31/100)Safety: 7.6 of 64 points (scores 68/100)Healthcare: 9.7 of 64 points (scores 87/100)Internet: 9.0 of 64 points (scores 81/100)Visa ease: 6.7 of 64 points (scores 61/100)Getting there & around: 4.5 of 64 points (scores 40/100)Climate: 3.7 of 64 points (scores 33/100)Air quality: 10.3 of 64 points (scores 93/100)Quality of life: 9.0 of 64 points (scores 81/100)64
Saint-Étienne
out of 100

Former coal and design city under an hour from Lyon, with low rents

Full Saint-Étienne profile →Plan a trip to Saint-Étienne →

Where they differ

  • Climate. Avignon leads on climate, 42 to 33, against Saint-Étienne. Comfortable months: 5 vs 4.
  • Air quality. Saint-Étienne leads on air quality, 93 to 86, against Avignon. PM2.5: 11.1 µg/m³ vs 8.1 µg/m³.

Where they are close. Within five points on getting there & around, internet, cost of living, safety, healthcare, visa ease, quality of life.

Pick Avignon if you want

  • no clear edge over Saint-Étienne in the data

Pick Saint-Étienne if you want

  • no clear edge over Avignon in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricAvignonSaint-Étienne
Cost of living3131
Safety6868
Healthcare8787
Internet8081 ✓
Visa ease6161
Getting there & around3740 ✓
Climate42 ✓33
Air quality8693 ✓
Quality of life8181

Cost

MetricAvignonSaint-Étienne
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$2,450$2,450
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricAvignonSaint-Étienne
Homicides per 100k1.331.33
Political stability (0–100)6464
UHC service coverage (0–100)8282
Life expectancy82.5 yrs82.5 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricAvignonSaint-Étienne
Download55.5 Mbps61 Mbps ✓
Upload48.2 Mbps ✓42.8 Mbps

Visa

MetricAvignonSaint-Étienne
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passport90 days90 days
Entry, EU passportunlimitedunlimited
Entry, UK passport90 days90 days

Getting there and around

MetricAvignonSaint-Étienne
Non-stop airport destinations86142 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)4 ✓3
Transit (1–5, editorial)33

Climate and air

MetricAvignonSaint-Étienne
Comfortable months per year5 ✓4
Annual mean PM2.511.1 µg/m³8.1 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Avignon or Saint-Étienne?
Avignon and Saint-Étienne cost about the same: roughly $2,450 per month for one person.
Is Avignon or Saint-Étienne safer?
Avignon and Saint-Étienne score the same on safety (68), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Avignon or Saint-Étienne?
Saint-Étienne: a measured median of 61 Mbps versus 55.5 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); 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); OpenFlights airports and routes; 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); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.