Climate
Calgary logs 181 frost days a year to Nanaimo's 9 — Nanaimo wins by 172. Nanaimo also leads on outdoor-dinner months by 2.
Calgary
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Nanaimo
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cost of Living
Calgary averages $2,741/mo for balanced living; Nanaimo has no cost baseline yet.
Calgary
$2,741monthly · balanced
Mobility
Calgary scores 2.4 on mobility (0–5 scale); Nanaimo has no mobility baseline.
Culture
Calgary's culture score of 2.2 sits well above Nanaimo's 0.0.
Nature & Outdoors
Calgary scores 4.2 on nature & outdoors (0–5 scale); Nanaimo has no nature & outdoors baseline.
Safety
Calgary scores 3.9 on safety (0–5 scale); Nanaimo has no safety baseline.
Career
Calgary scores 2.9 on career (0–5 scale); Nanaimo has no career baseline.
Social & Community
Calgary scores 3.4 on social & community (0–5 scale); Nanaimo has no social & community baseline.
Food & Dining
Calgary scores 3.2 on food & dining (0–5 scale); Nanaimo has no food & dining baseline.
Family
Calgary scores 3.2 on family (0–5 scale); Nanaimo has no family baseline.
Healthcare
Calgary scores 2.0 on healthcare (0–5 scale); Nanaimo has no healthcare baseline.
Air Quality
Calgary averages 8.1 µg/m³ (good) PM2.5 annually versus Nanaimo's 4.9 µg/m³ (excellent) — Nanaimo breathes ~39% cleaner air (3.1 µg/m³ lower).
Calgary
Nanaimo
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Calgary (1.5M) and Nanaimo (78K) are 19x in population — Calgary is the larger metro, Nanaimo the smaller; on land area Calgary spans roughly 11x more ground.
Calgary is roughly 15x the scale of Nanaimo
Combined population & area comparison
CalgaryNanaimoCity Scale Rankings
Calgary1.5M19xNanaimo78K1xCalgary533 km²11xNanaimo49 km²1xCalgary
Nanaimo
Who Thrives Here
Calgary is the stronger fit for the english speaker. Both cities work well for the clean air seeker.
Also compared
Frequently asked about Calgary vs Nanaimo
▶Which is cheaper, Calgary or Nanaimo?
▶How does the climate compare between Calgary and Nanaimo?
▶Is Calgary or Nanaimo safer?
▶Should I move to Calgary or Nanaimo?
The best city depends on what matters to you
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