---
title: "Living in Kos as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/kos
description: "Flat, bike-friendly Dodecanese island facing Bodrum"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Kos, Greece

Kos scores 69.1/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 165 of 1000 cities. Expect about $1,900 per month (country-level estimate), a nomad visa (Digital Nomad Visa (Z.1)), and a measured median download speed of 34.3 Mbps.

Kos Town is the harbour capital of a flat island with cycle lanes along the seafront, the ancient Asklepion of Hippocrates, Turkish Bodrum 30 minutes away by ferry and an airport 25 km away with summer flights from across Europe. Package tourism dominates from May to October and most of it shuts in winter, when flights drop to a few Athens services.

Known for: Hippocrates' Asklepion, Cycle lanes along the coast, Bodrum ferry in 30 min, Package beach resorts.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 69.1 |
| Cost of living | 35 |
| Safety | 76 |
| Healthcare | 79 |
| Internet | 64 |
| Visa ease | 76 |
| Getting there & around | 63 |
| Climate | 58 |
| Air quality | 82 |
| Quality of life | 89 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,900 | country | 2026-09 | [^2] |
| Central 1-bedroom rent | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Outskirts 1-bedroom rent (basis of the monthly total) | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Homicide rate (per 100k) | 0.85 | country | 2024 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 70.5 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 77 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 79.6 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 34.3 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 5 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Available | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | Digital Nomad Visa (Z.1) (min $3,929/mo) | country | 2026-10-07 | [^10] |
| Visa guide | [Greece long-stay visa guide](https://nostos.navoy.io/visas/greece) | country | 2026-10-07 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | 90 days / unlimited / 90 days | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (KGS) | 74 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 128 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 7 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 13.3 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.908 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | very-high | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 12.3 | 152 | 74 | no |
| Feb | 12.6 | 109 | 75 | no |
| Mar | 14.3 | 63 | 73 | no |
| Apr | 16.7 | 43 | 72 | yes |
| May | 20.7 | 24 | 69 | yes |
| Jun | 24.8 | 6 | 64 | yes |
| Jul | 27.7 | 2 | 58 | yes |
| Aug | 28.1 | 2 | 60 | no |
| Sep | 25.1 | 20 | 63 | yes |
| Oct | 21.3 | 49 | 67 | yes |
| Nov | 17.5 | 95 | 70 | yes |
| Dec | 13.9 | 150 | 73 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Kos International Airport | KGS | 74 | 67 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 74, of which 67 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Rhodes](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/rhodes) (69.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/kos-vs-rhodes)
- [Nafplio](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/nafplio) (68.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/kos-vs-nafplio)
- [Patras](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/patras) (68.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/kos-vs-patras)
- [Heraklion (Crete)](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/heraklion) (70.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/heraklion-vs-kos)
- [Chania (Crete)](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/chania) (70.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/chania-vs-kos)

## FAQ

### How much does it cost to live in Kos as a digital nomad?

A single person typically spends about $1,900 per month in Kos (a country-level estimate for Greece). That is a 35/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Kos safe for digital nomads?

Kos scores 76/100 on safety. Greece records 0.85 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 70.5/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Greece have a digital nomad visa?

Yes. Greece offers the Digital Nomad Visa (Z.1) with a minimum income of about $3,929 per month. Verify current rules with the issuing authority before applying. Full guide: https://nostos.navoy.io/visas/greece

### How fast is the internet in Kos?

Measured median download speed in Kos was 34.3 Mbps (upload 5 Mbps) across 1,217 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.

### Is Starlink available in Kos?

Yes. Starlink's availability map lists residential service as available in Greece (checked 2026-10), so a dish can serve as a backup line in Kos. Check the exact address on starlink.com before ordering, since capacity varies by area.

### Which airports serve Kos and how many nonstop flights are there?

Kos is served by Kos International Airport (KGS) with 74 nonstop destinations, of which 67 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

### When is the best time of year to be in Kos?

The most comfortable months are Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Sep, Oct, Nov. Mean temperatures range from 54°F (12°C) in Jan to 83°F (28°C) in Aug (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Kos or Rhodes: which is better for digital nomads?

Rhodes is the city with the closest factor profile to Kos in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.

## Plan a trip

[Where to stay in Kos](https://navoy.io/hotels/greece/kos) on Navoy, the AI travel planner behind Nostos.

## Sources

[^1]: City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^2]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^3]: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^4]: Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, dataUNODC. UNODC data, free to reuse with attribution. https://data.unodc.org/datareport/hom-victim (retrieved 2026-10-12)
[^5]: Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^6]: UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/uhc-index-of-service-coverage (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^7]: Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^8]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^9]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^10]: Nostos long-stay visa guides, Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/visas (retrieved 2026-10-04)
[^11]: Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. https://github.com/ilyankou/passport-index-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^12]: Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-24)
[^13]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^14]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04), Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis. CC BY 4.0. https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/surface-pm2-5/ (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^16]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)
[^17]: Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^18]: EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. https://www.ef.com/epi/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)

HTML page: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/kos