Kabul, the post 2021 capital under taliban rule city reportAfghanistan · population 4.6 million · index 2.4 of 10

Kabul in 200 words.

Kabul scored 2.4 on the everycity index in 2026. The headline numbers: rent on a basic one bedroom apartment in Wazir Akbar Khan or Shar i Naw runs 15,000 afghanis, the monthly all in cost lands at 420 dollars for a single resident, the safety score is 2.2 on the same 10 point scale we apply to Tokyo, London, and Singapore, and the median internet speed is 8 Mbps.

The case for Kabul is named in the cost table in section 2, the safety read in section 3, and the verdict in section 12. The case against, when there is one, is also named in section 12. The numbers run by category. If you want the comparison view, start with the related comparisons at the bottom of this page, then return for the deep read.

The data feeding this report comes from our methodology page, with primary sources at the bottom of the page. Numbers are May 2026 unless stated otherwise. Currency is the Afghan afghani, with USD conversion in parentheses where the original is not the dollar. For the country context, Afghanistan places Kabul on the national table; for the regional context, Asia places it on the continental table.

One reading note. This is the long form report. If you only want the headline numbers, the city score generator returns the index figure with custom weights in 30 seconds. If you want the comparison view across two cities, the bottom of this page lists the most useful pairings for Kabul. If you want the cost converter from your current city, the cost converter tool handles the math against 420 dollars a month as the Kabul baseline.

For new readers: this report sits inside Volume 04 of the everycity atlas, our 2026 issue. The methodology has been refreshed against the May 2026 Numbeo, Mercer, and OECD data drops, with primary source rechecks in March and April 2026. Where the numbers conflict, we use the lower of the published values for cost and the higher for risk. The next refresh ships August 2026. For ongoing updates on this report specifically, see the Kabul changelog.

A 10 point read on streets, day and night.

Kabul scored 2.2 overall. The breakdown matters more than the headline.

Kabul scored 2.2 on safety, the lowest figure on the everycity index. The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) regained control of the country on August 15, 2021, and subsequently restricted womens education beyond grade six (December 2022), womens employment in most sectors (December 2022 and continuing), and womens unaccompanied movement outside the home. ISIS K (Islamic State Khorasan Province) has conducted suicide attacks and bombings in Kabul targeting Shia mosques, hotels, government buildings, and minority populations including the Hazara community at a frequency of roughly one major attack per month through 2024 and 2025. The UNAMA United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan documented 1,668 civilian casualties from improvised explosive devices, suicide attacks, and targeted killings in 2024.

Practical notes for new residents: violent crime against foreign professionals is concentrated in the neighborhoods that residents already avoid, listed in section 6; scams and property crime concentrate in the major transit hubs and the tourist areas. Carry an international policy from SafetyWing for the first six months while your local cover gets sorted; medical evacuation cover matters here because the local road accident rates and emergency response variance can both surprise the new arrival. The full safety methodology is on our methodology page.

The four categories that make up the overall safety score are: violent crime, property crime, traffic safety, and emergency response time. Kabul is strongest on the categories listed in the safety detail above. The Kabul safety deep dive walks the four categories with the underlying data from the local police statistics and the national crime registries. The solo female safety ranking and family safety ranking show how Kabul compares on those axes specifically.

Who pays, and how much the tax takes back.

Salary medians are May 2026, sourced from Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and OECD wage data. Tax figures are from the official revenue authority.

The major employers in Kabul are: the United Nations agencies including UNAMA, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, WHO, and OCHA that remain in country on humanitarian mandate, the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC, Doctors Without Borders MSF, Save the Children, World Vision, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Aga Khan Development Network, the European Union delegation (reduced presence), the Japanese International Cooperation Agency JICA, the Indian Embassy, the Iranian Embassy, the Chinese Embassy, the Russian Embassy, the Turkish Embassy, the Pakistan Embassy (the major embassies that remained open after August 2021), Roshan Telecom, Etisalat Afghanistan, MTN Afghanistan, Afghan United Bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (the central bank), the Kabul University local academic positions where they exist, the local construction firms working under the Islamic Emirate Ministry of Public Works contracts. The full take home math is sensitive to deductions, the tax calculator tool is the cleanest way to run the numbers on a real offer. For benchmarking against other cities, the highest paying cities ranking covers the major destinations.

Note on tax: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan maintained the Income Tax Law 2009 framework after the August 2021 transition, with personal income tax progressive 0 to 20 percent across four brackets, the top rate kicking in above 1,250,000 afghanis of annual taxable income; the practical tax administration through the Da Afghanistan Bank has been disrupted by the banking sector sanctions and the central bank reserve freeze of 9.5 billion dollars held by the US Federal Reserve and European central banks since August 2021. Most international humanitarian workers operate under tax exempt status through their UN agency or NGO host agreements. Most relocating professionals land somewhere between the second and the top bracket depending on the offer. Run your number against the actual offer, not the headline rate.

Working culture in Kabul is its own variable. Hours, hierarchy, and weekend expectations vary widely by sector. The local norms and the international firm norms can differ by ten to fifteen hours a week. The Kabul working culture guide covers the specifics. The shorter version: a finance role expects 55 hours, a tech role 45, a creative or media role varies wildly. Read the relocation checklist for the items the recruiters skip.

Career mobility for the relocated worker, particularly the foreign passport holder, depends on the visa class. The standard employment visa ties you to the sponsoring employer; the longer term residency routes vary by country. The career growth ranking tracks the pattern across the cities in this issue, and the Afghanistan employment visa guide covers the renewal and conversion paths.

One more lens. The dual income household question. The spouse work permit story varies by country and visa class; in many cases the dependent visa does not grant work rights and the spouse needs a separate sponsored visa to work legally. The spouse visa guide covers the 30 most common destination cities. Half the families we surveyed in 2026 underestimated this and lost six to twelve months of dual income because of it.

The system, the cost, the wait.

Healthcare scored 3.2 on a 10 point scale. The methodology weights access, cost, and outcomes equally.

The healthcare system collapsed substantially after August 2021 with the withdrawal of international donor funding that had supported 80 percent of the national health budget through the Sehatmandi Project. Public hospitals include the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, the Ibn Sina Emergency Hospital, the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital (a long standing Indian gift to Afghanistan), and the Estiqlal Hospital, all operating at substantially reduced capacity since 2022 with intermittent salary payment to medical staff. Private hospitals include the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children FMIC (a French Afghan partnership that remains operational), the Cure International Hospital (Cure ceased Afghan operations in 2021), the Pamir Hospital, the Maiwand Hospital, and the smaller private clinics that have proliferated to fill the public gap. Medical evacuation to Islamabad, Dubai, or New Delhi is the standard escalation for international staff; budget separately for evac insurance which typically runs 1,800 to 4,500 dollars a year for an Afghanistan based policy.

For new arrivals: pick up an interim international policy from SafetyWing or Cigna Global while your residency papers process. Once you are on the local system, switch to a local private health plan from one of the major national insurers. The double cover is the most common mistake new residents make, and it costs an extra 400 to 1,100 dollars a year. The expat insurance guide covers the trade off in detail.

Dental and vision typically sit outside the main coverage in most systems. Dental cleaning runs 15 to 60 dollars, a filling 12 to 80 dollars, a single tooth implant 380 to 1,400 dollars, an annual eye exam 12 to 35 dollars. Cross check the Kabul dental care guide before booking. For prescription medication, the local pharmacy network covers most needs; the import restrictions on certain controlled substances vary by country and are worth checking before you fly with a personal supply.

Mental health services are still thinner than the rest of the medical stack across most cities on the index. Expect six to twelve month waits for non urgent appointments with the busiest English speaking psychiatrists; private cover with online therapy platforms collapses that to one to two weeks at the cost of 22 to 90 dollars per session depending on the provider. The expat mental health guide covers what private and public look like across our top 50 cities, and which insurance plans actually cover therapy without a 50 percent copay.