Which is cheaper, Dunedin or St. John's?

St. John's is cheaper: about $2,850 per month versus $2,950 for one person.

Is Dunedin or St. John's safer?

Dunedin scores higher on safety (84 vs 76), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Dunedin or St. John's?

St. John's: a measured median of 88.9 Mbps versus 64.2 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Dunedin vs St. John's

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights St. John's edges it, 60 to 59, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Dunedin is stronger on nothing outright; St. John's on visa ease. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Dunedin

out of 100

Scottish-flavoured university city with wildlife on the doorstep

Full Dunedin profile →Plan a trip to Dunedin →

St. John's

out of 100

Colourful, foggy harbour city on the edge of the Atlantic

Full St. John's profile →Plan a trip to St. John's →

Where they differ

Visa ease. St. John's leads on visa ease, 58 to 42, against Dunedin.
Safety. Dunedin leads on safety, 84 to 76, against St. John's. Homicides per 100,000: 1.46 vs 1.98.

Where they are close. Within five points on air quality, healthcare, getting there & around, internet, cost of living, quality of life, climate.

Pick Dunedin if you want

the safer country figures

Pick St. John's if you want

to spend about $100 less a month
faster internet (88.9 Mbps measured)

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Dunedin	St. John's
Cost of living	22	23 ✓
Safety	84 ✓	76
Healthcare	89	92 ✓
Internet	83	85 ✓
Visa ease	42	58 ✓
Getting there & around	21 ✓	18
Climate	0	0
Air quality	98 ✓	93
Quality of life	96	96 ✓

Cost

Metric	Dunedin	St. John's
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$2,950	$2,850 ✓
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Dunedin	St. John's
Homicides per 100k	1.46 ✓	1.98
Political stability (0–100)	86.3 ✓	79.8
UHC service coverage (0–100)	89	92 ✓
Life expectancy	80.7 yrs	81.4 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Dunedin	St. John's
Download	64.2 Mbps	88.9 Mbps ✓
Upload	59.4 Mbps ✓	26.2 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Dunedin	St. John's
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Entry, US passport	eTA required (online, before travel)	180 days ✓
Entry, EU passport	eTA required (online, before travel)	eTA required (online, before travel)
Entry, UK passport	eTA required (online, before travel)	eTA required (online, before travel)

Getting there and around

Metric	Dunedin	St. John's
Non-stop airport destinations	4	22 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	4 ✓	3
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	Dunedin	St. John's
Comfortable months per year	0	0
Annual mean PM2.5	5.8 µg/m³ ✓	8 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Dunedin or St. John's?: St. John's is cheaper: about $2,850 per month versus $2,950 for one person.
Is Dunedin or St. John's safer?: Dunedin scores higher on safety (84 vs 76), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Dunedin or St. John's?: St. John's: a measured median of 88.9 Mbps versus 64.2 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); 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 2026.11.3. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.