VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
The Space Needle behind Pier 70, Seattle
SeattleThe Space Needle behind Pier 70

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Seattle by Caio, Pexels License.

Calgary or Seattle?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Calgary for

  • prices
  • families
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Calgary’s own page.

Choose Seattle for

  • live music and the arts
  • beaches
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Seattle’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Calgary 8, Seattle 30: Seattle leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Seattle 66: Seattle leads by 21 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Seattle 50: Seattle leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Seattle 87: Calgary leads by 1 points.
Day trips. Calgary and Seattle are level on 55.
Good for families. Calgary 68, Seattle 64: Calgary leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Seattle 60: Seattle leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Seattle 52: Seattle leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Seattle 22: Calgary leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, Seattle 70: Seattle leads by 24 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, Seattle 40: Calgary leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Calgary and Seattle.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Calgary
46match

Wins on prices and families with your weighting.

Seattle
Best match
54match

Wins on live music and the arts and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Calgary in July

25 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Seattle in July

25 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
15 mmrain in the month
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
CalgarySeattle

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Seattle: 1991-2020 normals, Seattle-Tacoma Airport (17.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgarySeattle
Official languageFrench, English-
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation1,045 m40 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsSeattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)18 km from centre135 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgarySeattle
City population1,306,784737,015
People per km²1,5831,996
Museums within 10 km1327
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Calgary or Seattle somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.