VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
The Space Needle behind Pier 70, Seattle
SeattleThe Space Needle behind Pier 70

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Seattle by Caio, Pexels License.

Manila 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 Manila for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • shopping

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

Choose Seattle for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • families

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. Manila 12, Seattle 30: Seattle leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Seattle 66: Seattle leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Seattle 50: Manila leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Seattle 55: Manila leads by 9 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Seattle 87: Seattle leads by 47 points.
Day trips. Manila 42, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Manila 42, Seattle 64: Seattle leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Seattle 60: Seattle leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Seattle 52: Manila leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Seattle 22: Manila leads by 55 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Seattle 70: Seattle leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila and Seattle are level on 40.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Seattle.

Your match

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

Manila
48match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Seattle
Best match
54match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
13 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

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaSeattle

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Seattle: 1991-2020 normals, Seattle-Tacoma Airport (17.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaSeattle
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, Taglish-
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation9 m40 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsSeattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)18 km from centre135 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureManilaSeattle
City population1,902,590737,015
People per km²76,1041,996
Museums within 10 km2727
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Manila 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.