NavoyNostos

Nottingham vs Swansea

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Nottingham edges it, 65 to 64, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Neither leads on any factor by 10 points or more. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 2.5 of 65 points (scores 22/100)Safety: 8.4 of 65 points (scores 76/100)Healthcare: 9.8 of 65 points (scores 88/100)Internet: 8.7 of 65 points (scores 78/100)Visa ease: 8.6 of 65 points (scores 77/100)Getting there & around: 4.4 of 65 points (scores 39/100)Climate: 1.9 of 65 points (scores 17/100)Air quality: 10.3 of 65 points (scores 92/100)Quality of life: 10.7 of 65 points (scores 97/100)65
Nottingham
out of 100

Midlands student city with trams, cheap living and two universities

Full Nottingham profile →Plan a trip to Nottingham →
Cost of living: 2.5 of 64 points (scores 22/100)Safety: 8.4 of 64 points (scores 76/100)Healthcare: 9.8 of 64 points (scores 88/100)Internet: 8.6 of 64 points (scores 78/100)Visa ease: 8.6 of 64 points (scores 77/100)Getting there & around: 3.6 of 64 points (scores 32/100)Climate: 1.9 of 64 points (scores 17/100)Air quality: 10.1 of 64 points (scores 91/100)Quality of life: 10.7 of 64 points (scores 97/100)64
Swansea
out of 100

Welsh seaside city on the doorstep of the Gower beaches

Full Swansea profile →Plan a trip to Swansea →

Where they differ

  • Getting there & around. Nottingham leads on getting there & around, 39 to 32, against Swansea. Non-stop airport destinations: 64 vs 119.

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

Pick Nottingham if you want

  • no clear edge over Swansea in the data

Pick Swansea if you want

  • no clear edge over Nottingham in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricNottinghamSwansea
Cost of living2222
Safety7676
Healthcare8888
Internet78 ✓78
Visa ease7777
Getting there & around39 ✓32
Climate1717
Air quality92 ✓91
Quality of life9797

Cost

MetricNottinghamSwansea
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$2,900$2,900
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricNottinghamSwansea
Homicides per 100k0.930.93
Political stability (0–100)70.770.7
UHC service coverage (0–100)8888
Life expectancy80.7 yrs80.7 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricNottinghamSwansea
Download64 Mbps ✓61.1 Mbps
Upload17.7 Mbps19.9 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricNottinghamSwansea
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passporteTA required (online, before travel)eTA required (online, before travel)
Entry, EU passport180 days180 days
Entry, UK passporthome countryhome country

Getting there and around

MetricNottinghamSwansea
Non-stop airport destinations64119 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)4 ✓3
Transit (1–5, editorial)4 ✓2

Climate and air

MetricNottinghamSwansea
Comfortable months per year22
Annual mean PM2.58.4 µg/m³ ✓9.1 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Nottingham or Swansea?
Nottingham and Swansea cost about the same: roughly $2,900 per month for one person.
Is Nottingham or Swansea safer?
Nottingham and Swansea score the same on safety (76), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Nottingham or Swansea?
Nottingham: a measured median of 64 Mbps versus 61.1 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); 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.