NavoyNostos

Harare vs Nosy Be

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Nosy Be edges it, 44 to 42, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Harare is stronger on quality of life; Nosy Be on air quality, internet. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 5.2 of 42 points (scores 42/100)Healthcare: 4.6 of 42 points (scores 37/100)Internet: 4.1 of 42 points (scores 33/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 42 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 3.8 of 42 points (scores 30/100)Climate: 8.3 of 42 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 8.8 of 42 points (scores 70/100)Quality of life: 2.9 of 42 points (scores 23/100)42
Harare
out of 100

Zimbabwe's leafy capital, friendly but economically fragile

Full Harare profile →Where to stay in Harare →
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)

MetricHarareNosy Be
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety4247 ✓
Healthcare37 ✓28
Internet3344 ✓
Visa ease3434
Getting there & around30 ✓24
Climate6767
Air quality70100 ✓
Quality of life23 ✓11

Cost

MetricHarareNosy 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)

MetricHarareNosy Be
Homicides per 100k6.766.1 ✓
Political stability (0–100)50.356.4 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)59 ✓33
Life expectancy58.5 yrs62.9 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricHarareNosy Be
Download5.2 Mbps9 Mbps ✓
Upload2.1 Mbps4.9 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricHarareNosy 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

MetricHarareNosy Be
Non-stop airport destinations13 ✓7
Walkability (1–5, editorial)22
Transit (1–5, editorial)11

Climate and air

MetricHarareNosy Be
Comfortable months per year88
Annual mean PM2.518.4 µg/m³5.1 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Harare or Nosy Be?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Harare or Nosy Be safer?
Nosy Be scores higher on safety (47 vs 42), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Harare or Nosy Be?
Nosy Be: a measured median of 9 Mbps versus 5.2 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); 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.