Which is cheaper, Baghdad or Damascus?

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

Is Baghdad or Damascus safer?

Damascus scores higher on safety (34 vs 21), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Baghdad or Damascus?

Baghdad: a measured median of 2.5 Mbps versus 0.9 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Baghdad vs Damascus

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Damascus edges it, 36 to 35, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Baghdad is stronger on internet, quality of life; Damascus on climate, air quality, safety. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Baghdad

out of 100

The Tigris capital reopening to visitors, still under travel advisories

Full Baghdad profile →Where to stay in Baghdad →

Damascus

out of 100

Ancient capital reopening after the war

Full Damascus profile →Hotels in Syria →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Baghdad	Damascus
Cost of living	no data	no data
Safety	21	34 ✓
Healthcare	59	64 ✓
Internet	25 ✓	0
Visa ease	34 ✓	32
Getting there & around	49	49 ✓
Climate	33	50 ✓
Air quality	20	37 ✓
Quality of life	35 ✓	22

Cost

Metric	Baghdad	Damascus
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	Baghdad	Damascus
Homicides per 100k	12.6	2.4 ✓
Political stability (0–100)	32.9 ✓	25
UHC service coverage (0–100)	64	70 ✓
Life expectancy	71.5 yrs	72.4 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Baghdad	Damascus
Download	2.5 Mbps ✓	0.9 Mbps
Upload	6 Mbps ✓	0.4 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Baghdad	Damascus
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Entry, US passport	visa on arrival ✓	e-visa required
Entry, EU passport	visa on arrival ✓	e-visa required
Entry, UK passport	visa on arrival ✓	e-visa required

Getting there and around

Metric	Baghdad	Damascus
Non-stop airport destinations	49 ✓	30
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	2	3 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	Baghdad	Damascus
Comfortable months per year	4	6 ✓
Annual mean PM2.5	40.8 µg/m³	33.3 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Baghdad or Damascus?: We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Baghdad or Damascus safer?: Damascus scores higher on safety (34 vs 21), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Baghdad or Damascus?: Baghdad: a measured median of 2.5 Mbps versus 0.9 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); 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.