NavoyNostos

Rennes vs Saint-Étienne

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Rennes edges it, 65 to 64, winning 2 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: 3.4 of 65 points (scores 31/100)Safety: 7.6 of 65 points (scores 68/100)Healthcare: 9.7 of 65 points (scores 87/100)Internet: 8.9 of 65 points (scores 80/100)Visa ease: 6.7 of 65 points (scores 61/100)Getting there & around: 5.4 of 65 points (scores 49/100)Climate: 3.7 of 65 points (scores 33/100)Air quality: 10.4 of 65 points (scores 94/100)Quality of life: 9.0 of 65 points (scores 81/100)65
Rennes
out of 100

Brittany's capital: a student city with a metro and a TGV to Paris

Full Rennes profile →Plan a trip to Rennes →
Cost of living: 3.4 of 64 points (scores 31/100)Safety: 7.6 of 64 points (scores 68/100)Healthcare: 9.7 of 64 points (scores 87/100)Internet: 9.0 of 64 points (scores 81/100)Visa ease: 6.7 of 64 points (scores 61/100)Getting there & around: 4.5 of 64 points (scores 40/100)Climate: 3.7 of 64 points (scores 33/100)Air quality: 10.3 of 64 points (scores 93/100)Quality of life: 9.0 of 64 points (scores 81/100)64
Saint-Étienne
out of 100

Former coal and design city under an hour from Lyon, with low rents

Full Saint-Étienne profile →Plan a trip to Saint-Étienne →

Where they differ

  • Getting there & around. Rennes leads on getting there & around, 49 to 40, against Saint-Étienne. Non-stop airport destinations: 97 vs 142.

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

Pick Rennes if you want

  • no clear edge over Saint-Étienne in the data

Pick Saint-Étienne if you want

  • no clear edge over Rennes in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricRennesSaint-Étienne
Cost of living3131
Safety6868
Healthcare8787
Internet8081 ✓
Visa ease6161
Getting there & around49 ✓40
Climate3333
Air quality94 ✓93
Quality of life8181

Cost

MetricRennesSaint-Étienne
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$2,450$2,450
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricRennesSaint-Étienne
Homicides per 100k1.331.33
Political stability (0–100)6464
UHC service coverage (0–100)8282
Life expectancy82.5 yrs82.5 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricRennesSaint-Étienne
Download56 Mbps61 Mbps ✓
Upload53.5 Mbps ✓42.8 Mbps

Visa

MetricRennesSaint-Étienne
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passport90 days90 days
Entry, EU passportunlimitedunlimited
Entry, UK passport90 days90 days

Getting there and around

MetricRennesSaint-Étienne
Non-stop airport destinations97142 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)4 ✓3
Transit (1–5, editorial)5 ✓3

Climate and air

MetricRennesSaint-Étienne
Comfortable months per year44
Annual mean PM2.57.9 µg/m³ ✓8.1 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Rennes or Saint-Étienne?
Rennes and Saint-Étienne cost about the same: roughly $2,450 per month for one person.
Is Rennes or Saint-Étienne safer?
Rennes and Saint-Étienne score the same on safety (68), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Rennes or Saint-Étienne?
Saint-Étienne: a measured median of 61 Mbps versus 56 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.