Which is cheaper, Oaxaca City or San Miguel de Allende?

San Miguel de Allende is cheaper: about $1,400 per month versus $1,400 for one person.

Is Oaxaca City or San Miguel de Allende safer?

Oaxaca City scores higher on safety (23 vs 23), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Oaxaca City or San Miguel de Allende?

San Miguel de Allende: a measured median of 25 Mbps versus 18.8 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Oaxaca City vs San Miguel de Allende

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights San Miguel de Allende edges it, 56 to 52, winning 4 of the 9 factors. Oaxaca City is stronger on nothing outright; San Miguel de Allende on climate. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Oaxaca City

out of 100

Food, mezcal and colonial calm

Full Oaxaca City profile →

San Miguel de Allende

out of 100

Colonial jewel with a large expat community

Full San Miguel de Allende profile →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Oaxaca City	San Miguel de Allende
Cost of living	52	52
Safety	23	23
Healthcare	65	65
Internet	47	54 ✓
Visa ease	90	90
Getting there & around	22	23 ✓
Climate	42	67 ✓
Air quality	74	80 ✓
Quality of life	54	54

Cost

Metric	Oaxaca City	San Miguel de Allende
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$1,400	$1,400
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Oaxaca City	San Miguel de Allende
Homicides per 100k	28.2	28.2
Political stability (0–100)	53.7	53.7
UHC service coverage (0–100)	79	79
Life expectancy	70.8 yrs	70.8 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Oaxaca City	San Miguel de Allende
Download	18.8 Mbps	25 Mbps ✓
Upload	5 Mbps	7.8 Mbps ✓

Visa

Metric	Oaxaca City	San Miguel de Allende
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Visa-free days, US passport	180 days	180 days
Visa-free days, EU passport	180 days	180 days
Visa-free days, UK passport	180 days	180 days

Getting there and around

Metric	Oaxaca City	San Miguel de Allende
Non-stop airport destinations	14	21 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	4	5 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2 ✓	1

Climate and air

Metric	Oaxaca City	San Miguel de Allende
Comfortable months per year	5	8 ✓
Annual mean PM2.5	16.5 µg/m³	13.9 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Oaxaca City or San Miguel de Allende?: San Miguel de Allende is cheaper: about $1,400 per month versus $1,400 for one person.
Is Oaxaca City or San Miguel de Allende safer?: Oaxaca City scores higher on safety (23 vs 23), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Oaxaca City or San Miguel de Allende?: San Miguel de Allende: a measured median of 25 Mbps versus 18.8 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). Dataset 2026.09.4. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.