VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The Space Needle behind Pier 70, Seattle
SeattleThe Space Needle behind Pier 70

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Seattle by Caio, Pexels License.

Nairobi 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 Nairobi for

  • prices
  • nightlife

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

Choose Seattle for

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

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. Nairobi 4, Seattle 30: Seattle leads by 26 points.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Seattle 66: Seattle leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Seattle 50: Seattle leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Seattle 55: Nairobi leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Seattle 87: Seattle leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Seattle 64: Seattle leads by 9 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Seattle 60: Seattle leads by 40 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Seattle 52: Seattle leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Seattle 22: Nairobi leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Seattle 70: Seattle leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Seattle 40: Seattle leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Seattle.

Your match

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

Nairobi
41match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Seattle
Best match
54match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Nairobi in July

24 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
11 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
12 hdaylight a day

Seattle in July

25 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
15 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiSeattle

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre). Seattle: 1991-2020 normals, Seattle-Tacoma Airport (17.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiSeattle
Official languageEnglish, Swahili-
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999911
Elevation1,661 m40 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsSeattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)18 km from centre135 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiSeattle
City population5,545,000737,015
People per km²7,9671,996
Museums within 10 km427
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 Nairobi 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.