NavoyNostos

Kandy vs Yerevan

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Yerevan edges it, 63 to 61, winning 4 of the 9 factors. Kandy is stronger on nothing outright; Yerevan on visa ease, getting there & around. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 7.8 of 61 points (scores 70/100)Safety: 7.0 of 61 points (scores 63/100)Healthcare: 8.0 of 61 points (scores 72/100)Internet: 6.2 of 61 points (scores 56/100)Visa ease: 7.1 of 61 points (scores 64/100)Getting there & around: 6.1 of 61 points (scores 55/100)Climate: 6.5 of 61 points (scores 58/100)Air quality: 6.7 of 61 points (scores 60/100)Quality of life: 5.8 of 61 points (scores 52/100)61
Kandy
out of 100

Sri Lanka's hill-country capital around a lake

Full Kandy profile →Where to stay in Kandy →
Safety: 7.4 of 63 points (scores 59/100)Healthcare: 8.0 of 63 points (scores 64/100)Internet: 7.0 of 63 points (scores 56/100)Visa ease: 11.3 of 63 points (scores 90/100)Getting there & around: 8.6 of 63 points (scores 69/100)Climate: 6.3 of 63 points (scores 50/100)Air quality: 7.0 of 63 points (scores 56/100)Quality of life: 7.2 of 63 points (scores 57/100)63
Yerevan
out of 100

Ancient capital with a young tech scene

Full Yerevan profile →Where to stay in Yerevan →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricKandyYerevan
Cost of living70no data
Safety63 ✓59
Healthcare72 ✓64
Internet5656 ✓
Visa ease6490 ✓
Getting there & around5569 ✓
Climate58 ✓50
Air quality60 ✓56
Quality of life5257 ✓

Cost

MetricKandyYerevan
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$768no data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricKandyYerevan
Homicides per 100k2.512.19 ✓
Political stability (0–100)64.9 ✓58
UHC service coverage (0–100)72 ✓69
Life expectancy77.2 yrs ✓73 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricKandyYerevan
Download16.1 Mbps ✓15.3 Mbps
Upload10.2 Mbps13.4 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricKandyYerevan
Nomad visaDigital nomad visa ✓none listed
Minimum income for the visa$2,000/mono data
Entry, US passportvisa on arrival180 days ✓
Entry, EU passportvisa on arrival180 days ✓
Entry, UK passportvisa on arrival180 days ✓

Getting there and around

MetricKandyYerevan
Non-stop airport destinations5582 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)34 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)23 ✓

Climate and air

MetricKandyYerevan
Comfortable months per year7 ✓6
Annual mean PM2.522.8 µg/m³ ✓24.9 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Kandy or Yerevan?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Kandy or Yerevan safer?
Kandy scores higher on safety (63 vs 59), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Kandy or Yerevan?
Kandy: a measured median of 16.1 Mbps versus 15.3 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); 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); IQAir city air-quality pages (yearly PM2.5 averages); WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Nostos long-stay visa guides; Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.