Existing research has employed various methods to quantify urban heat island (UHI) effects, but the ideal method for individual cities remains unclear. This study investigated how different methods influence UHI understanding in Addis Ababa, a tropical city facing UHI challenges. Three methods were compared: dynamic urbanization, natural and built-up fractions, and urban center vs. surrounding rural areas. Satellite data and spatial analyses revealed maximum daytime UHIs of 4°C and 3.1°C in summer and autumn, respectively. Examining the mean temperature differences between urban and rural areas across methods yielded diverse results. This suggests that while the ‘dynamic urbanization’ method is statistically favorable in this specific case, averaging results from multiple methods produced a more robust and generalizable approach to understanding UHIs in different urban contexts. Ultimately, this study highlights the importance of context-specific method selection for accurately understanding the complex interplay between urban and rural environments.