Which is cheaper, Calamba or Iligan?

Calamba and Iligan cost about the same: roughly $1,150 per month for one person.

Is Calamba or Iligan safer?

Calamba and Iligan score the same on safety (47), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Calamba or Iligan?

Calamba: a measured median of 24 Mbps versus 17.9 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Calamba vs Iligan

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Calamba edges it, 52 to 49, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Calamba is stronger on getting there & around; Iligan on nothing outright. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Calamba

out of 100

Laguna hot-spring town and Rizal's birthplace south of Manila

Full Calamba profile →Plan a trip to Calamba →

Iligan

out of 100

Northern Mindanao's industrial city of waterfalls

Full Iligan profile →Plan a trip to Iligan →

Where they differ

Getting there & around. Calamba leads on getting there & around, 23 to 11, against Iligan. Non-stop airport destinations: 88 vs 4.
Air quality. Calamba leads on air quality, 67 to 57, against Iligan. PM2.5: 20 µg/m³ vs 24.2 µg/m³.
Internet. Calamba leads on internet, 62 to 56, against Iligan. Measured download: 24 Mbps vs 17.9 Mbps.

Where they are close. Within five points on cost of living, safety, healthcare, visa ease, climate, quality of life.

Pick Calamba if you want

faster internet (24 Mbps measured)
more flights and easier getting around

Pick Iligan if you want

no clear edge over Calamba in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Calamba	Iligan
Cost of living	67	67
Safety	47	47
Healthcare	63	63
Internet	62 ✓	56
Visa ease	58	58
Getting there & around	23 ✓	11
Climate	17	17
Air quality	67 ✓	57
Quality of life	61	61

Cost

Metric	Calamba	Iligan
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$1,150	$1,150
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Calamba	Iligan
Homicides per 100k	4.31	4.31
Political stability (0–100)	51	51
UHC service coverage (0–100)	69	69
Life expectancy	70.4 yrs	70.4 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Calamba	Iligan
Download	24 Mbps ✓	17.9 Mbps
Upload	13.3 Mbps ✓	7.2 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Calamba	Iligan
Nomad visa	Digital nomad visa (DNV)	Digital nomad visa (DNV)
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Entry, US passport	30 days	30 days
Entry, EU passport	30 days	30 days
Entry, UK passport	30 days	30 days

Getting there and around

Metric	Calamba	Iligan
Non-stop airport destinations	88 ✓	4
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	2	2
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	Calamba	Iligan
Comfortable months per year	2	2
Annual mean PM2.5	20 µg/m³ ✓	24.2 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Calamba or Iligan?: Calamba and Iligan cost about the same: roughly $1,150 per month for one person.
Is Calamba or Iligan safer?: Calamba and Iligan score the same on safety (47), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Calamba or Iligan?: Calamba: a measured median of 24 Mbps versus 17.9 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); 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); 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); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Nostos long-stay visa guides; Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.