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Dar es Salaam vs Nosy Be

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Dar es Salaam edges it, 48 to 44, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Dar es Salaam is stronger on getting there & around, healthcare; Nosy Be on air quality. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 6.9 of 48 points (scores 55/100)Healthcare: 5.4 of 48 points (scores 43/100)Internet: 5.4 of 48 points (scores 43/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 48 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 5.5 of 48 points (scores 44/100)Climate: 9.4 of 48 points (scores 75/100)Air quality: 9.1 of 48 points (scores 72/100)Quality of life: 2.5 of 48 points (scores 20/100)48
Dar es Salaam
out of 100

Swahili coast city with Zanzibar next door

Full Dar es Salaam profile →Where to stay in Dar es Salaam →
Safety: 5.9 of 44 points (scores 47/100)Healthcare: 3.5 of 44 points (scores 28/100)Internet: 5.5 of 44 points (scores 44/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 44 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 3.0 of 44 points (scores 24/100)Climate: 8.3 of 44 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 12.5 of 44 points (scores 100/100)Quality of life: 1.3 of 44 points (scores 11/100)44
Nosy Be
out of 100

Madagascar's resort island of ylang-ylang, lemurs and Italian tourism

Full Nosy Be profile →Where to stay in Nosy Be →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricDar es SalaamNosy Be
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety55 ✓47
Healthcare43 ✓28
Internet4344 ✓
Visa ease3434
Getting there & around44 ✓24
Climate75 ✓67
Air quality72100 ✓
Quality of life20 ✓11

Cost

MetricDar es SalaamNosy Be
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno datano data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricDar es SalaamNosy Be
Homicides per 100k3.3 ✓6.1
Political stability (0–100)57.3 ✓56.4
UHC service coverage (0–100)49 ✓33
Life expectancy66.8 yrs ✓62.9 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricDar es SalaamNosy Be
Download9.5 Mbps ✓9 Mbps
Upload3.2 Mbps4.9 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricDar es SalaamNosy Be
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival
Entry, EU passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival
Entry, UK passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival

Getting there and around

MetricDar es SalaamNosy Be
Non-stop airport destinations50 ✓7
Walkability (1–5, editorial)12 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)2 ✓1

Climate and air

MetricDar es SalaamNosy Be
Comfortable months per year9 ✓8
Annual mean PM2.517.4 µg/m³5.1 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Dar es Salaam or Nosy Be?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Dar es Salaam or Nosy Be safer?
Dar es Salaam scores higher on safety (55 vs 47), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Dar es Salaam or Nosy Be?
Dar es Salaam: a measured median of 9.5 Mbps versus 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; 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); 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.