Cambridge vs Portsmouth
for digital nomads
Under balanced weights Portsmouth edges it, 70 to 69, winning 2 of the 9 factors. Neither leads on any factor by 10 points or more. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.
Flat, bike-first university city at the heart of the UK's tech cluster
Full Cambridge profile →Plan a trip to Cambridge →Dense island naval city with ferries to France and Spain
Full Portsmouth profile →Plan a trip to Portsmouth →Where they differ
- Climate. Portsmouth leads on climate, 33 to 25, against Cambridge. Comfortable months: 3 vs 4.
Where they are close. Within five points on internet, getting there & around, cost of living, safety, healthcare, visa ease, air quality, quality of life.
Pick Cambridge if you want
- no clear edge over Portsmouth in the data
Pick Portsmouth if you want
- no clear edge over Cambridge in the data
Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)
| Metric | Cambridge | Portsmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | 22 | 22 |
| Safety | 76 | 76 |
| Healthcare | 88 | 88 |
| Internet | 79 | 81 ✓ |
| Visa ease | 77 | 77 |
| Getting there & around | 59 ✓ | 58 |
| Climate | 25 | 33 ✓ |
| Air quality | 94 | 94 |
| Quality of life | 97 | 97 |
Cost
| Metric | Cambridge | Portsmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city | $2,900 | $2,900 |
| Central one-bedroom rent | no data | no data |
Safety and health (country-level)
| Metric | Cambridge | Portsmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Homicides per 100k | 0.93 | 0.93 |
| Political stability (0–100) | 70.7 | 70.7 |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 88 | 88 |
| Life expectancy | 80.7 yrs | 80.7 yrs |
Internet (M-Lab measured medians)
| Metric | Cambridge | Portsmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Download | 67.4 Mbps | 76.7 Mbps ✓ |
| Upload | 19.1 Mbps | 20.8 Mbps ✓ |
Visa
| Metric | Cambridge | Portsmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Nomad visa | none listed | none listed |
| Minimum income for the visa | no data | no data |
| Entry, US passport | eTA required (online, before travel) | eTA required (online, before travel) |
| Entry, EU passport | 180 days | 180 days |
| Entry, UK passport | home country | home country |
Getting there and around
| Metric | Cambridge | Portsmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Non-stop airport destinations | 199 | 227 ✓ |
| Walkability (1–5, editorial) | 5 ✓ | 4 |
| Transit (1–5, editorial) | 3 | 3 |
Climate and air
| Metric | Cambridge | Portsmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Comfortable months per year | 3 | 4 ✓ |
| Annual mean PM2.5 | 7.8 µg/m³ | 7.8 µg/m³ |
✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.
Frequently asked
- Which is cheaper, Cambridge or Portsmouth?
- Cambridge and Portsmouth cost about the same: roughly $2,900 per month for one person.
- Is Cambridge or Portsmouth safer?
- Cambridge and Portsmouth score the same on safety (76), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
- Where is the internet faster, Cambridge or Portsmouth?
- Portsmouth: a measured median of 76.7 Mbps versus 67.4 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).
More comparisons
- Cambridge vs Milton Keynes
- Cambridge vs Slough
- Portsmouth vs Crawley
- Portsmouth vs Southampton
- All 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); 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); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.