Which is cheaper, St. John's or Thunder Bay?

St. John's and Thunder Bay cost about the same: roughly $2,850 per month for one person.

Is St. John's or Thunder Bay safer?

St. John's and Thunder Bay score the same on safety (76), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, St. John's or Thunder Bay?

St. John's: a measured median of 88.9 Mbps versus 70.9 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

St. John's vs Thunder Bay

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Thunder Bay edges it, 62 to 60, winning 2 of the 9 factors. St. John's is stronger on nothing outright; Thunder Bay on climate. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

St. John's

out of 100

Colourful, foggy harbour city on the edge of the Atlantic

Full St. John's profile →Plan a trip to St. John's →

Thunder Bay

out of 100

Lake Superior port city facing the Sleeping Giant

Full Thunder Bay profile →Plan a trip to Thunder Bay →

Where they differ

Climate. Thunder Bay leads on climate, 17 to 0, against St. John's. Comfortable months: 0 vs 2.
Air quality. Thunder Bay leads on air quality, 100 to 93, against St. John's. PM2.5: 8 µg/m³ vs 5 µg/m³.
Getting there & around. St. John's leads on getting there & around, 18 to 12, against Thunder Bay. Non-stop airport destinations: 22 vs 17.

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

Pick St. John's if you want

faster internet (88.9 Mbps measured)

Pick Thunder Bay if you want

a longer comfortable season (2 months against 0)

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	St. John's	Thunder Bay
Cost of living	23	23
Safety	76	76
Healthcare	92	92
Internet	85 ✓	82
Visa ease	58	58
Getting there & around	18 ✓	12
Climate	0	17 ✓
Air quality	93	100 ✓
Quality of life	96	96

Cost

Metric	St. John's	Thunder Bay
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$2,850	$2,850
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	St. John's	Thunder Bay
Homicides per 100k	1.98	1.98
Political stability (0–100)	79.8	79.8
UHC service coverage (0–100)	92	92
Life expectancy	81.4 yrs	81.4 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	St. John's	Thunder Bay
Download	88.9 Mbps ✓	70.9 Mbps
Upload	26.2 Mbps	33.1 Mbps ✓

Visa

Metric	St. John's	Thunder Bay
Nomad visa	none listed	none listed
Minimum income for the visa	no data	no data
Entry, US passport	180 days	180 days
Entry, EU passport	eTA required (online, before travel)	eTA required (online, before travel)
Entry, UK passport	eTA required (online, before travel)	eTA required (online, before travel)

Getting there and around

Metric	St. John's	Thunder Bay
Non-stop airport destinations	22 ✓	17
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	3 ✓	2
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	St. John's	Thunder Bay
Comfortable months per year	0	2 ✓
Annual mean PM2.5	8 µg/m³	5 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, St. John's or Thunder Bay?: St. John's and Thunder Bay cost about the same: roughly $2,850 per month for one person.
Is St. John's or Thunder Bay safer?: St. John's and Thunder Bay score the same on safety (76), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, St. John's or Thunder Bay?: St. John's: a measured median of 88.9 Mbps versus 70.9 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.