NavoyNostos

Kampala vs Karachi

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Kampala edges it, 37 to 35, winning 4 of the 9 factors. Kampala is stronger on quality of life; Karachi on visa ease. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 4.8 of 37 points (scores 39/100)Healthcare: 5.6 of 37 points (scores 45/100)Internet: 5.2 of 37 points (scores 41/100)Visa ease: 4.0 of 37 points (scores 32/100)Getting there & around: 4.6 of 37 points (scores 37/100)Climate: 8.3 of 37 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 0.0 of 37 points (scores 0/100)Quality of life: 4.7 of 37 points (scores 38/100)37
Kampala
out of 100

Hilly, friendly and full of energy

Full Kampala profile →Where to stay in Kampala →
Safety: 4.1 of 35 points (scores 33/100)Healthcare: 5.8 of 35 points (scores 46/100)Internet: 4.8 of 35 points (scores 39/100)Visa ease: 5.3 of 35 points (scores 42/100)Getting there & around: 5.2 of 35 points (scores 41/100)Climate: 7.3 of 35 points (scores 58/100)Air quality: 0.0 of 35 points (scores 0/100)Quality of life: 2.3 of 35 points (scores 19/100)35
Karachi
out of 100

Pakistan's giant port city: food, sea breeze and hard edges

Full Karachi profile →Where to stay in Karachi →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricKampalaKarachi
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety39 ✓33
Healthcare4546 ✓
Internet41 ✓39
Visa ease3242 ✓
Getting there & around3741 ✓
Climate67 ✓58
Air quality00
Quality of life38 ✓19

Cost

MetricKampalaKarachi
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno datano data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricKampalaKarachi
Homicides per 100k8.824.33 ✓
Political stability (0–100)50.4 ✓31.4
UHC service coverage (0–100)5456 ✓
Life expectancy66 yrs66 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricKampalaKarachi
Download8 Mbps ✓5.9 Mbps
Upload3.8 Mbps6.6 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricKampalaKarachi
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passporte-visa requiredeTA required (online, before travel) ✓
Entry, EU passporte-visa requiredeTA required (online, before travel) ✓
Entry, UK passporte-visa requiredeTA required (online, before travel) ✓

Getting there and around

MetricKampalaKarachi
Non-stop airport destinations2539 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)11
Transit (1–5, editorial)22

Climate and air

MetricKampalaKarachi
Comfortable months per year8 ✓7
Annual mean PM2.560.2 µg/m³ ✓66.4 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Kampala or Karachi?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Kampala or Karachi safer?
Kampala scores higher on safety (39 vs 33), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Kampala or Karachi?
Kampala: a measured median of 8 Mbps versus 5.9 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 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.