NavoyNostos

Puerto Vallarta vs San Miguel de Allende

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Puerto Vallarta edges it, 61 to 60, 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: 6.4 of 61 points (scores 58/100)Safety: 3.2 of 61 points (scores 28/100)Healthcare: 8.4 of 61 points (scores 75/100)Internet: 7.1 of 61 points (scores 64/100)Visa ease: 10.0 of 61 points (scores 90/100)Getting there & around: 3.0 of 61 points (scores 27/100)Climate: 7.4 of 61 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 9.5 of 61 points (scores 85/100)Quality of life: 6.3 of 61 points (scores 57/100)61
Puerto Vallarta
out of 100

Pacific beach town with a strong expat scene

Full Puerto Vallarta profile →Plan a trip to Puerto Vallarta →
Cost of living: 6.4 of 60 points (scores 58/100)Safety: 3.2 of 60 points (scores 28/100)Healthcare: 8.4 of 60 points (scores 75/100)Internet: 6.8 of 60 points (scores 61/100)Visa ease: 10.0 of 60 points (scores 90/100)Getting there & around: 2.6 of 60 points (scores 23/100)Climate: 7.4 of 60 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 8.9 of 60 points (scores 80/100)Quality of life: 6.3 of 60 points (scores 57/100)60
San Miguel de Allende
out of 100

Colonial jewel with a large expat community

Full San Miguel de Allende profile →Plan a trip to San Miguel de Allende →

Where they differ

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

Pick Puerto Vallarta if you want

  • no clear edge over San Miguel de Allende in the data

Pick San Miguel de Allende if you want

  • no clear edge over Puerto Vallarta in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricPuerto VallartaSan Miguel de Allende
Cost of living5858
Safety2828
Healthcare7575
Internet64 ✓61
Visa ease9090
Getting there & around27 ✓23
Climate6767
Air quality85 ✓80
Quality of life5757

Cost

MetricPuerto VallartaSan Miguel de Allende
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$1,400$1,400
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricPuerto VallartaSan Miguel de Allende
Homicides per 100k25.6425.64
Political stability (0–100)5555
UHC service coverage (0–100)7979
Life expectancy75.3 yrs75.3 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricPuerto VallartaSan Miguel de Allende
Download28.6 Mbps ✓25 Mbps
Upload9.5 Mbps ✓7.8 Mbps

Visa

MetricPuerto VallartaSan Miguel de Allende
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passport180 days180 days
Entry, EU passport180 days180 days
Entry, UK passport180 days180 days

Getting there and around

MetricPuerto VallartaSan Miguel de Allende
Non-stop airport destinations50 ✓22
Walkability (1–5, editorial)45 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)2 ✓1

Climate and air

MetricPuerto VallartaSan Miguel de Allende
Comfortable months per year88
Annual mean PM2.511.7 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, Puerto Vallarta or San Miguel de Allende?
Puerto Vallarta and San Miguel de Allende cost about the same: roughly $1,400 per month for one person.
Is Puerto Vallarta or San Miguel de Allende safer?
Puerto Vallarta and San Miguel de Allende score the same on safety (28), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Puerto Vallarta or San Miguel de Allende?
Puerto Vallarta: a measured median of 28.6 Mbps versus 25 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); 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); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Nostos long-stay visa guides; Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.3. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.