Which is cheaper, Cartagena or Mexico City?

Cartagena is cheaper: about $1,042 per month versus $1,318 for one person.

Is Cartagena or Mexico City safer?

Mexico City scores higher on safety (23 vs 16), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Cartagena or Mexico City?

Mexico City: a measured median of 30.5 Mbps versus 28.9 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Cartagena vs Mexico City

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Cartagena edges it, 52 to 52, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Cartagena is stronger on air quality, cost of living; Mexico City on visa ease, getting there & around. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cartagena

out of 100

Caribbean walled city with a nomad visa

Full Cartagena profile →

Mexico City

out of 100

Vast, cultured, and 180 days visa-free

Full Mexico City profile →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Cartagena	Mexico City
Cost of living	65 ✓	55
Safety	16	23 ✓
Healthcare	73 ✓	65
Internet	59 ✓	57
Visa ease	71	90 ✓
Getting there & around	24	41 ✓
Climate	33 ✓	25
Air quality	75 ✓	56
Quality of life	53	54 ✓

Cost

Metric	Cartagena	Mexico City
Monthly cost, one person	$1,042 ✓	$1,318
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	$791

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Cartagena	Mexico City
Homicides per 100k	35.7	28.2 ✓
Political stability (0–100)	49.3	53.7 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)	82 ✓	79
Life expectancy	74.5 yrs ✓	70.8 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Cartagena	Mexico City
Download	28.9 Mbps	30.5 Mbps ✓
Upload	14.3 Mbps ✓	6.7 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Cartagena	Mexico City
Nomad visa	Visa V Trabajador Remoto / Nómadas Digitales ✓	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Visa-free days, US passport	90 days	180 days ✓
Visa-free days, EU passport	90 days	180 days ✓
Visa-free days, UK passport	90 days	180 days ✓

Getting there and around

Metric	Cartagena	Mexico City
Non-stop airport destinations	31	110 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	4 ✓	3
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	4 ✓

Climate and air

Metric	Cartagena	Mexico City
Comfortable months per year	4 ✓	3
Annual mean PM2.5	16.1 µg/m³ ✓	25 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Cartagena or Mexico City?: Cartagena is cheaper: about $1,042 per month versus $1,318 for one person.
Is Cartagena or Mexico City safer?: Mexico City scores higher on safety (23 vs 16), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Cartagena or Mexico City?: Mexico City: a measured median of 30.5 Mbps versus 28.9 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); 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); WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages). Dataset 2026.09.4. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.