Which is cheaper, Kanpur or Varanasi?

Kanpur and Varanasi cost about the same: roughly $750 per month for one person.

Is Kanpur or Varanasi safer?

Kanpur and Varanasi score the same on safety (55), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Kanpur or Varanasi?

Kanpur: a measured median of 20.1 Mbps versus 11.5 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Kanpur vs Varanasi

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Kanpur edges it, 45 to 44, winning 1 of the 9 factors. Kanpur is stronger on internet; Varanasi on nothing outright. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Kanpur

out of 100

Industrial Ganges city of leather, textiles and IIT Kanpur

Full Kanpur profile →Plan a trip to Kanpur →

Varanasi

out of 100

Ganges ghats and the oldest living city in India

Full Varanasi profile →Plan a trip to Varanasi →

Where they differ

Internet. Kanpur leads on internet, 58 to 46, against Varanasi. Measured download: 20.1 Mbps vs 11.5 Mbps.

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

Pick Kanpur if you want

faster internet (20.1 Mbps measured)

Pick Varanasi if you want

no clear edge over Kanpur in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Kanpur	Varanasi
Cost of living	88	88
Safety	55	55
Healthcare	63	63
Internet	58 ✓	46
Visa ease	32	32
Getting there & around	13	17 ✓
Climate	50	50
Air quality	0	0
Quality of life	43	43

Cost

Metric	Kanpur	Varanasi
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$750	$750
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Kanpur	Varanasi
Homicides per 100k	2.72	2.72
Political stability (0–100)	55	55
UHC service coverage (0–100)	69	69
Life expectancy	71 yrs	71 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Kanpur	Varanasi
Download	20.1 Mbps ✓	11.5 Mbps
Upload	7.5 Mbps ✓	3 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Kanpur	Varanasi
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Entry, US passport	e-visa required	e-visa required
Entry, EU passport	e-visa required	e-visa required
Entry, UK passport	e-visa required	e-visa required

Getting there and around

Metric	Kanpur	Varanasi
Non-stop airport destinations	22 ✓	16
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	2	3 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	Kanpur	Varanasi
Comfortable months per year	6	6
Annual mean PM2.5	71 µg/m³	60 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Kanpur or Varanasi?: Kanpur and Varanasi cost about the same: roughly $750 per month for one person.
Is Kanpur or Varanasi safer?: Kanpur and Varanasi score the same on safety (55), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Kanpur or Varanasi?: Kanpur: a measured median of 20.1 Mbps versus 11.5 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); 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.