NavoyNostos

Negombo vs Shymkent

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Negombo edges it, 56 to 55, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Negombo is stronger on nothing outright; Shymkent on nothing outright. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 7.9 of 56 points (scores 71/100)Safety: 7.0 of 56 points (scores 63/100)Healthcare: 8.0 of 56 points (scores 72/100)Internet: 4.3 of 56 points (scores 39/100)Visa ease: 7.1 of 56 points (scores 64/100)Getting there & around: 6.1 of 56 points (scores 55/100)Climate: 2.8 of 56 points (scores 25/100)Air quality: 7.3 of 56 points (scores 65/100)Quality of life: 5.8 of 56 points (scores 52/100)56
Negombo
out of 100

Beach town next to Colombo airport, with a fishing harbour and Dutch canals

Full Negombo profile →Where to stay in Negombo →
Safety: 7.6 of 55 points (scores 61/100)Healthcare: 8.6 of 55 points (scores 69/100)Internet: 4.1 of 55 points (scores 33/100)Visa ease: 7.5 of 55 points (scores 60/100)Getting there & around: 6.2 of 55 points (scores 49/100)Climate: 4.2 of 55 points (scores 33/100)Air quality: 8.9 of 55 points (scores 71/100)Quality of life: 7.6 of 55 points (scores 61/100)55
Shymkent
out of 100

Kazakhstan's warm third city, the gateway to Turkistan and the Uzbek border

Full Shymkent profile →Where to stay in Shymkent →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricNegomboShymkent
Cost of living71no data
Safety63 ✓61
Healthcare72 ✓69
Internet39 ✓33
Visa ease64 ✓60
Getting there & around55 ✓49
Climate2533 ✓
Air quality6571 ✓
Quality of life5261 ✓

Cost

MetricNegomboShymkent
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$750no data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricNegomboShymkent
Homicides per 100k2.51 ✓2.55
Political stability (0–100)64.9 ✓62
UHC service coverage (0–100)7283 ✓
Life expectancy77.2 yrs ✓70.3 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricNegomboShymkent
Download7.6 Mbps ✓4.5 Mbps
Upload2.4 Mbps4.2 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricNegomboShymkent
Nomad visaDigital nomad visaNeo Nomad visa (B12-1)
Minimum income for the visa$2,000/mo ✓$3,000/mo
Entry, US passportvisa on arrival ✓30 days
Entry, EU passportvisa on arrival ✓30 days
Entry, UK passportvisa on arrival ✓30 days

Getting there and around

MetricNegomboShymkent
Non-stop airport destinations55 ✓32
Walkability (1–5, editorial)3 ✓2
Transit (1–5, editorial)23 ✓

Climate and air

MetricNegomboShymkent
Comfortable months per year34 ✓
Annual mean PM2.520.6 µg/m³17.9 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Negombo or Shymkent?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Negombo or Shymkent safer?
Negombo scores higher on safety (63 vs 61), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Negombo or Shymkent?
Negombo: a measured median of 7.6 Mbps versus 4.5 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 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.