Kairouan vs Sfax
for digital nomads
Under balanced weights Sfax edges it, 53 to 52, winning 2 of the 9 factors. Kairouan is stronger on nothing outright; Sfax on climate. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.
Tunisia's holy city, with the Great Mosque and a carpet-selling medina
Full Kairouan profile →Plan a trip to Kairouan →Tunisia's working second city: a walled medina, a busy port and the ferry to Kerkennah
Full Sfax profile →Plan a trip to Sfax →Where they differ
- Climate. Sfax leads on climate, 58 to 42, against Kairouan. Comfortable months: 5 vs 7.
Where they are close. Within five points on getting there & around, air quality, internet, cost of living, safety, healthcare, visa ease, quality of life.
Pick Kairouan if you want
- no clear edge over Sfax in the data
Pick Sfax if you want
- a longer comfortable season (7 months against 5)
Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)
| Metric | Kairouan | Sfax |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | 61 | 61 |
| Safety | 48 | 48 |
| Healthcare | 77 | 77 |
| Internet | 34 | 34 ✓ |
| Visa ease | 50 | 50 |
| Getting there & around | 25 ✓ | 23 |
| Climate | 42 | 58 ✓ |
| Air quality | 76 ✓ | 75 |
| Quality of life | 51 | 51 |
Cost
| Metric | Kairouan | Sfax |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city | $1,300 | $1,300 |
| Central one-bedroom rent | no data | no data |
Safety and health (country-level)
| Metric | Kairouan | Sfax |
|---|---|---|
| Homicides per 100k | 4.69 | 4.69 |
| Political stability (0–100) | 53.4 | 53.4 |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 76 | 76 |
| Life expectancy | 77.7 yrs | 77.7 yrs |
Internet (M-Lab measured medians)
| Metric | Kairouan | Sfax |
|---|---|---|
| Download | 7 Mbps | 7.3 Mbps ✓ |
| Upload | 0.9 Mbps ✓ | 0.8 Mbps |
Visa
| Metric | Kairouan | Sfax |
|---|---|---|
| Nomad visa | none listed | none listed |
| Minimum income for the visa | no data | no data |
| Entry, US passport | 120 days | 120 days |
| Entry, EU passport | 120 days | 120 days |
| Entry, UK passport | 90 days | 90 days |
Getting there and around
| Metric | Kairouan | Sfax |
|---|---|---|
| Non-stop airport destinations | 68 ✓ | 57 |
| Walkability (1–5, editorial) | 4 ✓ | 3 |
| Transit (1–5, editorial) | 1 | 2 ✓ |
Climate and air
| Metric | Kairouan | Sfax |
|---|---|---|
| Comfortable months per year | 5 | 7 ✓ |
| Annual mean PM2.5 | 15.8 µg/m³ ✓ | 16.2 µg/m³ |
✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.
Frequently asked
- Which is cheaper, Kairouan or Sfax?
- Kairouan and Sfax cost about the same: roughly $1,300 per month for one person.
- Is Kairouan or Sfax safer?
- Kairouan and Sfax score the same on safety (48), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
- Where is the internet faster, Kairouan or Sfax?
- Sfax: a measured median of 7.3 Mbps versus 7 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); 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.