NavoyNostos

Ipswich vs Southampton

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights the two cities tie at 68. Neither leads on any factor by 10 points or more. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 2.5 of 68 points (scores 22/100)Safety: 8.4 of 68 points (scores 76/100)Healthcare: 9.8 of 68 points (scores 88/100)Internet: 8.2 of 68 points (scores 74/100)Visa ease: 8.6 of 68 points (scores 77/100)Getting there & around: 5.4 of 68 points (scores 49/100)Climate: 3.7 of 68 points (scores 33/100)Air quality: 10.3 of 68 points (scores 92/100)Quality of life: 10.7 of 68 points (scores 97/100)68
Ipswich
out of 100

Suffolk waterfront town an hour from London

Full Ipswich profile →Plan a trip to Ipswich →
Cost of living: 2.5 of 68 points (scores 22/100)Safety: 8.4 of 68 points (scores 76/100)Healthcare: 9.8 of 68 points (scores 88/100)Internet: 8.5 of 68 points (scores 77/100)Visa ease: 8.6 of 68 points (scores 77/100)Getting there & around: 5.9 of 68 points (scores 53/100)Climate: 3.7 of 68 points (scores 33/100)Air quality: 10.1 of 68 points (scores 91/100)Quality of life: 10.7 of 68 points (scores 97/100)68
Southampton
out of 100

Port and university city on the south coast, 75 minutes from London

Full Southampton profile →Plan a trip to Southampton →

Where they differ

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

Pick Ipswich if you want

  • no clear edge over Southampton in the data

Pick Southampton if you want

  • faster internet (58.3 Mbps measured)

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricIpswichSouthampton
Cost of living2222
Safety7676
Healthcare8888
Internet7477 ✓
Visa ease7777
Getting there & around4953 ✓
Climate3333
Air quality92 ✓91
Quality of life9797

Cost

MetricIpswichSouthampton
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$2,900$2,900
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricIpswichSouthampton
Homicides per 100k0.930.93
Political stability (0–100)70.770.7
UHC service coverage (0–100)8888
Life expectancy80.7 yrs80.7 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricIpswichSouthampton
Download48.5 Mbps58.3 Mbps ✓
Upload16.3 Mbps17.2 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricIpswichSouthampton
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passporteTA required (online, before travel)eTA required (online, before travel)
Entry, EU passport180 days180 days
Entry, UK passporthome countryhome country

Getting there and around

MetricIpswichSouthampton
Non-stop airport destinations199229 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)4 ✓3
Transit (1–5, editorial)23 ✓

Climate and air

MetricIpswichSouthampton
Comfortable months per year44
Annual mean PM2.58.4 µg/m³ ✓9.1 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Ipswich or Southampton?
Ipswich and Southampton cost about the same: roughly $2,900 per month for one person.
Is Ipswich or Southampton safer?
Ipswich and Southampton score the same on safety (76), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Ipswich or Southampton?
Southampton: a measured median of 58.3 Mbps versus 48.5 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 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.