Where to live in Pakistan
We track 13 cities in Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Average temperatures run from 10°C to 27°C. We estimate a couple needs €1,739 to €1,945 a month to live centrally. Pakistan sits in our low to medium tax tier. For foreigners, long-term residency is possible, with conditions.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
- Tax tier
- Low to medium
- Moderate personal income tax
- Languages
- Urdu, English
- Limited English
- Safety
- 45/100
- country-level
- Healthcare
- 45/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~20 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
The 13 cities we track
| City | Size | Setting | Avg temp | Rain a year | Est. cost a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bannu | large | inland | 23°C | 310 mm | €1,826 |
| Faisalabad | large | inland | 24°C | 322 mm | €1,880 |
| Gujranwala | large | inland | 23°C | 526 mm | €1,858 |
| Hyderabad | large | near the coast | 27°C | 164 mm | €1,844 |
| Islamabad | large | inland | 22°C | 944 mm | €1,882 |
| Karachi | major | coastal | 26°C | 117 mm | €1,939 |
| Lahore | major | inland | 24°C | 450 mm | €1,945 |
| Multan | large | inland | 25°C | 161 mm | €1,850 |
| Peshawar | large | inland | 22°C | 478 mm | €1,892 |
| Quetta | large | inland | 18°C | 204 mm | €1,833 |
| Sargodha | large | inland | 24°C | 357 mm | €1,809 |
| Sialkot | mid-sized | inland | 22°C | 784 mm | €1,805 |
| Skardu | mid-sized | inland | 10°C | 272 mm | €1,739 |
Source: City size from GeoNames, temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages), rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals), coast distance from Natural Earth. Cost is our model estimate for a couple living centrally.
Taxes
Pakistan sits in our low to medium tax tier: moderate personal income tax. The tier applies to every city here, and couples who cap tax below it will not see these cities in their results.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Possible, with conditions. Long-term residency runs almost entirely through capital or relationships, namely the new investor-focused Long Term Residency scheme, the legacy investor/business visa, employment sponsorship, or marriage to a Pakistani citizen; there is no passive-income or skilled-points pathway.
The cheapest self-funded routes we track for Pakistan:
- Investment: about $50k (Pakistan Foreigners (Long Term Residency) Order 2025 LTR scheme, minimum USD 50,000 invested through authorized banking channels within one year of approval (figure is USD-denominated at source); as of June 2026)
For short visits, 9 of 198 passports can enter visa-free, 182 can get an e-visa or visa on arrival and 7 need a visa in advance.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).