Which is cheaper, Mombasa or Zanzibar City?

We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.

Is Mombasa or Zanzibar City safer?

Zanzibar City scores higher on safety (45 vs 35), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Mombasa or Zanzibar City?

Mombasa: a measured median of 8.1 Mbps versus 2.6 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Mombasa vs Zanzibar City

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Mombasa edges it, 45 to 32, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Mombasa is stronger on climate, quality of life, internet; Zanzibar City on safety. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Mombasa

out of 100

Kenya's Swahili coast city with Diani beach south

Full Mombasa profile →

Zanzibar City

out of 100

Stone Town and the island beaches beyond

Full Zanzibar City profile →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Mombasa	Zanzibar City
Cost of living	70	no data
Safety	35	45 ✓
Healthcare	45 ✓	40
Internet	29 ✓	6
Visa ease	6	6
Getting there & around	18	20 ✓
Climate	75 ✓	50
Air quality	87 ✓	71
Quality of life	43 ✓	19

Cost

Metric	Mombasa	Zanzibar City
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$938	no data
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Mombasa	Zanzibar City
Homicides per 100k	5.8 ✓	8.3
Political stability (0–100)	42.7	59.2 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)	57 ✓	49
Life expectancy	66.8 yrs	66.8 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Mombasa	Zanzibar City
Download	8.1 Mbps ✓	2.6 Mbps
Upload	2.8 Mbps ✓	1.5 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Mombasa	Zanzibar City
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Visa-free days, US passport	visa or e-visa required	visa or e-visa required
Visa-free days, EU passport	visa or e-visa required	visa or e-visa required
Visa-free days, UK passport	visa or e-visa required	visa or e-visa required

Getting there and around

Metric	Mombasa	Zanzibar City
Non-stop airport destinations	21	32 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	3	4 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2 ✓	1

Climate and air

Metric	Mombasa	Zanzibar City
Comfortable months per year	9 ✓	6
Annual mean PM2.5	10.8 µg/m³ ✓	17.9 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Mombasa or Zanzibar City?: We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Mombasa or Zanzibar City safer?: Zanzibar City scores higher on safety (45 vs 35), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Mombasa or Zanzibar City?: Mombasa: a measured median of 8.1 Mbps versus 2.6 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); 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); WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages). Dataset 2026.09.4. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.