Which is cheaper, Durham or Raleigh?

Raleigh is cheaper: about $2,945 per month versus $3,000 for one person.

Is Durham or Raleigh safer?

Durham scores higher on safety (51 vs 51), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Durham or Raleigh?

Raleigh: a measured median of 106.7 Mbps versus 94.3 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Durham vs Raleigh

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Raleigh edges it, 67 to 67, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Durham is stronger on nothing outright; Raleigh on nothing outright. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Durham

out of 100

Research Triangle city of Duke, biotech labs and a tobacco-warehouse downtown

Full Durham profile →Hotels in the United States →

Raleigh

out of 100

Research Triangle tech and a mild climate

Full Raleigh profile →Hotels in the United States →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Durham	Raleigh
Cost of living	17	18 ✓
Safety	51	51
Healthcare	81	81
Internet	84	87 ✓
Visa ease	61	61
Getting there & around	59 ✓	54
Climate	58	58
Air quality	93	96 ✓
Quality of life	95	95

Cost

Metric	Durham	Raleigh
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$3,000	$2,945 ✓
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Durham	Raleigh
Homicides per 100k	5.76	5.76
Political stability (0–100)	60.3	60.3
UHC service coverage (0–100)	88	88
Life expectancy	76.4 yrs	76.4 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Durham	Raleigh
Download	94.3 Mbps	106.7 Mbps ✓
Upload	17.6 Mbps	21.7 Mbps ✓

Visa

Metric	Durham	Raleigh
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Entry, US passport	home country	home country
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	Durham	Raleigh
Non-stop airport destinations	87	87
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	3 ✓	2
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	Durham	Raleigh
Comfortable months per year	7	7
Annual mean PM2.5	8 µg/m³	7 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Durham or Raleigh?: Raleigh is cheaper: about $2,945 per month versus $3,000 for one person.
Is Durham or Raleigh safer?: Durham scores higher on safety (51 vs 51), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Durham or Raleigh?: Raleigh: a measured median of 106.7 Mbps versus 94.3 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); 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); Regional Price Parities by metropolitan area, 2024 (all items); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.