Toowoomba vs Townsville
for digital nomads
Under balanced weights Toowoomba edges it, 67 to 66, 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.
Queensland's garden city on the range, cooler than Brisbane
Full Toowoomba profile →Plan a trip to Toowoomba →North Queensland's dry-tropics city with Magnetic Island offshore
Full Townsville profile →Plan a trip to Townsville →Where they differ
- Climate. Townsville leads on climate, 83 to 75, against Toowoomba. Comfortable months: 9 vs 10.
- Getting there & around. Toowoomba leads on getting there & around, 23 to 17, against Townsville. Non-stop airport destinations: 91 vs 14.
Where they are close. Within five points on internet, air quality, cost of living, safety, healthcare, visa ease, quality of life.
Pick Toowoomba if you want
- faster internet (47.4 Mbps measured)
Pick Townsville if you want
- no clear edge over Toowoomba in the data
Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)
| Metric | Toowoomba | Townsville |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | 15 | 15 |
| Safety | 82 | 82 |
| Healthcare | 92 | 92 |
| Internet | 73 ✓ | 68 |
| Visa ease | 42 | 42 |
| Getting there & around | 23 ✓ | 17 |
| Climate | 75 | 83 ✓ |
| Air quality | 99 ✓ | 99 |
| Quality of life | 98 | 98 |
Cost
| Metric | Toowoomba | Townsville |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city | $3,350 | $3,350 |
| Central one-bedroom rent | no data | no data |
Safety and health (country-level)
| Metric | Toowoomba | Townsville |
|---|---|---|
| Homicides per 100k | 0.94 | 0.94 |
| Political stability (0–100) | 79.3 | 79.3 |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 89 | 89 |
| Life expectancy | 83 yrs | 83 yrs |
Internet (M-Lab measured medians)
| Metric | Toowoomba | Townsville |
|---|---|---|
| Download | 47.4 Mbps ✓ | 38.7 Mbps |
| Upload | 15.2 Mbps ✓ | 9.1 Mbps |
Visa
| Metric | Toowoomba | Townsville |
|---|---|---|
| Nomad visa | none listed | none listed |
| Minimum income for the visa | no data | no data |
| Entry, US passport | eTA required (online, before travel) | eTA required (online, before travel) |
| 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 | Toowoomba | Townsville |
|---|---|---|
| Non-stop airport destinations | 91 ✓ | 14 |
| Walkability (1–5, editorial) | 3 | 3 |
| Transit (1–5, editorial) | 1 | 2 ✓ |
Climate and air
| Metric | Toowoomba | Townsville |
|---|---|---|
| Comfortable months per year | 9 | 10 ✓ |
| Annual mean PM2.5 | 5.5 µg/m³ ✓ | 5.6 µg/m³ |
✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.
Frequently asked
- Which is cheaper, Toowoomba or Townsville?
- Toowoomba and Townsville cost about the same: roughly $3,350 per month for one person.
- Is Toowoomba or Townsville safer?
- Toowoomba and Townsville score the same on safety (82), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
- Where is the internet faster, Toowoomba or Townsville?
- Toowoomba: a measured median of 47.4 Mbps versus 38.7 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).
More comparisons
- Toowoomba vs Gold Coast
- Toowoomba vs Byron Bay
- Townsville vs Byron Bay
- Townsville vs Gold Coast
- All 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.