Where to live in Rwanda
We track 3 cities in Rwanda: Gisenyi, Kigali and Musanze. Average temperatures run from 18°C to 20°C. We estimate a couple needs €2,017 to €2,161 a month to live centrally. For citizens from outside the East African Community, long-term residency is comparatively open.
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).
- Safety
- 61/100
- country-level estimate
- Healthcare
- 46/100
- country-level estimate
- Democracy
- 4.4/10
- estimated
Estimated from World Bank indicators and calibrated to the scales of our reference tables: safety from the country-level homicide rate per 100,000 people (VC.IHR.PSRC.P5, 2020) and Worldwide Governance Indicators Political Stability and Absence of Violence estimate (GOV_WGI_PV.EST, 2025), healthcare from the life expectancy at birth (SP.DYN.LE00.IN, 2024) and current health spending per person in US dollars (SH.XPD.CHEX.PC.CD, 2023), cost of living from the price level of GDP relative to the United States, from GDP per person in US dollars and at purchasing power parity (NY.GDP.PCAP.CD/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD, 2025) and democracy score from the Worldwide Governance Indicators Voice and Accountability estimate (GOV_WGI_VA.EST, 2025). Source: The World Bank (World Development Indicators, Worldwide Governance Indicators), CC BY 4.0.
Limited data for Rwanda. Figures for safety, healthcare, cost of living and political stability in Rwanda are country-level estimates from World Bank indicators, each named with its year. We have no tax, English, social openness or internet speed figures for Rwanda, so the quiz scores those factors conservatively and this page leaves them out.
The 3 cities we track
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, from the World Bank price level.
Residency and visas
Comparatively open, for people from outside the East African Community. Rwanda offers straightforward long-term routes for capable applicants: an investor permit tied to an RDB investment certificate, an assured-income/retiree permit for self-funded individuals, plus employer-sponsored work and self-employment permits, with permanent residency reachable after several years.
Citizens of the East African Community have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights here.
The cheapest self-funded routes we track for Rwanda:
- Income: about $5,000 a month (Rwanda K-class 'person with assured income' / retiree permit, USD 5,000/mo (minimum age 55, 2-year renewable); figure quoted natively in USD by the immigration authority, so no FX conversion needed; as of June 2026)
- Investment: about $250k (Rwanda Business Investor Permit gated on an RDB investment certificate requiring USD 250,000 minimum startup capital for a foreign investor (Law n.006/2021); quoted natively in USD; as of June 2026)
For short visits, 107 of 198 passports can enter visa-free and 91 can get an e-visa or visa on arrival.
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).