Karaganda vs Semey
for digital nomads
Under balanced weights the two cities tie at 54. Neither leads on any factor by 10 points or more. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.
Soviet coal city on the steppe, built around a Gulag past
Full Karaganda profile →Plan a trip to Karaganda →Old Irtysh town of Dostoevsky, Abai and the nuclear Polygon
Full Semey profile →Plan a trip to Semey →Where they differ
Where they are close. Within five points on getting there & around, air quality, internet, safety, healthcare, visa ease, climate, quality of life.
Pick Karaganda if you want
- no clear edge over Semey in the data
Pick Semey if you want
- no clear edge over Karaganda in the data
Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)
| Metric | Karaganda | Semey |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | no data | no data |
| Safety | 61 | 61 |
| Healthcare | 77 | 77 |
| Internet | 41 | 42 ✓ |
| Visa ease | 60 | 60 |
| Getting there & around | 11 | 16 ✓ |
| Climate | 25 | 25 |
| Air quality | 90 | 92 ✓ |
| Quality of life | 63 | 63 |
Cost
| Metric | Karaganda | Semey |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city | no data | no data |
| Central one-bedroom rent | no data | no data |
Safety and health (country-level)
| Metric | Karaganda | Semey |
|---|---|---|
| Homicides per 100k | 2.55 | 2.55 |
| Political stability (0–100) | 62 | 62 |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 83 | 83 |
| Life expectancy | 74.8 yrs | 74.8 yrs |
Internet (M-Lab measured medians)
| Metric | Karaganda | Semey |
|---|---|---|
| Download | 7.2 Mbps | 7.4 Mbps ✓ |
| Upload | 5.8 Mbps | 6.6 Mbps ✓ |
Visa
| Metric | Karaganda | Semey |
|---|---|---|
| Nomad visa | Neo Nomad visa (B12-1) | Neo Nomad visa (B12-1) |
| Minimum income for the visa | $3,000/mo | $3,000/mo |
| Entry, US passport | 30 days | 30 days |
| Entry, EU passport | 30 days | 30 days |
| Entry, UK passport | 30 days | 30 days |
Getting there and around
| Metric | Karaganda | Semey |
|---|---|---|
| Non-stop airport destinations | 8 ✓ | 4 |
| Walkability (1–5, editorial) | 2 | 3 ✓ |
| Transit (1–5, editorial) | 2 | 2 |
Climate and air
| Metric | Karaganda | Semey |
|---|---|---|
| Comfortable months per year | 3 | 3 |
| Annual mean PM2.5 | 9.6 µg/m³ | 8.7 µg/m³ ✓ |
✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.
Frequently asked
- Which is cheaper, Karaganda or Semey?
- We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
- Is Karaganda or Semey safer?
- Karaganda and Semey score the same on safety (61), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
- Where is the internet faster, Karaganda or Semey?
- Semey: a measured median of 7.4 Mbps versus 7.2 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).
More comparisons
Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); 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); Nostos long-stay visa guides; Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.