NavoyNostos

San Miguel de Allende vs Tampico

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights the two cities tie at 60. 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 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 →
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: 7.7 of 60 points (scores 69/100)Visa ease: 10.0 of 60 points (scores 90/100)Getting there & around: 1.8 of 60 points (scores 16/100)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
Tampico
out of 100

Gulf oil port with iron-balconied plazas and a long beach next door

Full Tampico profile →Plan a trip to Tampico →

Where they differ

  • Internet. Tampico leads on internet, 69 to 61, against San Miguel de Allende. Measured download: 25 Mbps vs 37.4 Mbps.
  • Getting there & around. San Miguel de Allende leads on getting there & around, 23 to 16, against Tampico. Non-stop airport destinations: 22 vs 8.

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

Pick San Miguel de Allende if you want

  • no clear edge over Tampico in the data

Pick Tampico if you want

  • faster internet (37.4 Mbps measured)

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricSan Miguel de AllendeTampico
Cost of living5858
Safety2828
Healthcare7575
Internet6169 ✓
Visa ease9090
Getting there & around23 ✓16
Climate6767
Air quality80 ✓80
Quality of life5757

Cost

MetricSan Miguel de AllendeTampico
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)

MetricSan Miguel de AllendeTampico
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)

MetricSan Miguel de AllendeTampico
Download25 Mbps37.4 Mbps ✓
Upload7.8 Mbps15.1 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricSan Miguel de AllendeTampico
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

MetricSan Miguel de AllendeTampico
Non-stop airport destinations22 ✓8
Walkability (1–5, editorial)5 ✓3
Transit (1–5, editorial)12 ✓

Climate and air

MetricSan Miguel de AllendeTampico
Comfortable months per year88
Annual mean PM2.513.9 µg/m³ ✓14 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, San Miguel de Allende or Tampico?
San Miguel de Allende and Tampico cost about the same: roughly $1,400 per month for one person.
Is San Miguel de Allende or Tampico safer?
San Miguel de Allende and Tampico score the same on safety (28), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, San Miguel de Allende or Tampico?
Tampico: a measured median of 37.4 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 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.