NavoyNostos

Mashhad vs Tehran

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Tehran edges it, 45 to 44, winning 2 of the 9 factors. Mashhad is stronger on nothing outright; Tehran on air quality. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 5.1 of 44 points (scores 41/100)Healthcare: 9.3 of 44 points (scores 74/100)Internet: 3.8 of 44 points (scores 30/100)Visa ease: 1.9 of 44 points (scores 15/100)Getting there & around: 8.0 of 44 points (scores 64/100)Climate: 5.2 of 44 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 3.5 of 44 points (scores 28/100)Quality of life: 6.9 of 44 points (scores 56/100)44
Mashhad
out of 100

Iran's pilgrimage city around the Imam Reza shrine

Full Mashhad profile →Hotels in Iran →
Safety: 5.1 of 45 points (scores 41/100)Healthcare: 9.3 of 45 points (scores 74/100)Internet: 4.1 of 45 points (scores 33/100)Visa ease: 1.9 of 45 points (scores 15/100)Getting there & around: 7.9 of 45 points (scores 63/100)Climate: 5.2 of 45 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 4.9 of 45 points (scores 39/100)Quality of life: 6.9 of 45 points (scores 56/100)45
Tehran
out of 100

Iran's sprawling capital under the Alborz, cut off from global payments

Full Tehran profile →Hotels in Iran →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricMashhadTehran
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety4141
Healthcare7474
Internet3033 ✓
Visa ease1515
Getting there & around64 ✓63
Climate4242
Air quality2839 ✓
Quality of life5656

Cost

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

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricMashhadTehran
Homicides per 100k2.92.9
Political stability (0–100)3636
UHC service coverage (0–100)8181
Life expectancy74.7 yrs74.7 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricMashhadTehran
Download6.1 Mbps6.8 Mbps ✓
Upload0.6 Mbps0.7 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricMashhadTehran
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passportvisa requiredvisa required
Entry, EU passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival
Entry, UK passportvisa requiredvisa required

Getting there and around

MetricMashhadTehran
Non-stop airport destinations5279 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)3 ✓2
Transit (1–5, editorial)44

Climate and air

MetricMashhadTehran
Comfortable months per year55
Annual mean PM2.537.6 µg/m³32.5 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Mashhad or Tehran?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Mashhad or Tehran safer?
Mashhad scores higher on safety (41 vs 41), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Mashhad or Tehran?
Tehran: a measured median of 6.8 Mbps versus 6.1 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); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); OpenFlights airports and routes; 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 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.