---
title: "Living in Monastir as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/monastir
description: "Compact Tunisian coastal city with a ribat, an airport next door and light rail to Sousse"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Monastir, Tunisia

Monastir scores 55.8/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 748 of 1000 cities. Expect about $1,300 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 7 Mbps.

Monastir is a tidy, low-key city on Tunisia's Sahel coast with a seafront ribat, the Bourguiba mausoleum and its international airport practically in town, plus a light-rail line to Sousse 20 km away. Costs are very low and winters mild, but the Skanes hotel zone is seasonal and the city is quiet after dark.

Known for: Ribat of Monastir, Bourguiba mausoleum, Airport 10 minutes from town, Sahel metro to Sousse.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 55.8 |
| Cost of living | 50 |
| Safety | 48 |
| Healthcare | 70 |
| Internet | 34 |
| Visa ease | 50 |
| Getting there & around | 56 |
| Climate | 67 |
| Air quality | 80 |
| Quality of life | 48 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,300 | 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) | 4.69 | country | 2020 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 53.4 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 76 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 74.1 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 7 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 0.8 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Coming soon (Starting in 2026) | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | 120 days / 120 days / 90 days | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (MIR) | 63 | city | 2026-08 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 21 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 3 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 8 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 14.1 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.746 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 12.4 | 37 | 74 | no |
| Feb | 12.3 | 28 | 73 | no |
| Mar | 14.2 | 44 | 73 | no |
| Apr | 16.6 | 30 | 73 | yes |
| May | 19.8 | 22 | 69 | yes |
| Jun | 23.9 | 14 | 66 | yes |
| Jul | 27.3 | 6 | 61 | yes |
| Aug | 27.8 | 20 | 63 | yes |
| Sep | 25.3 | 61 | 69 | yes |
| Oct | 22.1 | 56 | 72 | yes |
| Nov | 17.5 | 37 | 72 | yes |
| Dec | 13.9 | 47 | 74 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport | MIR | 63 | 62 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 63, of which 62 international (Wikipedia, 2026-08).

## Similar cities

- [Sousse](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/sousse) (55.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/monastir-vs-sousse)
- [Nabeul](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/nabeul) (56) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/monastir-vs-nabeul)
- [Hammamet](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/hammamet) (56.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/hammamet-vs-monastir)
- [Tunis](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/tunis) (54.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/monastir-vs-tunis)
- [Sfax](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/sfax) (54.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/monastir-vs-sfax)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $1,300 per month in Monastir (a country-level estimate for Tunisia). That is a 50/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Monastir safe for digital nomads?

Monastir scores 48/100 on safety. Tunisia records 4.69 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2020) and a political-stability score of 53.4/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Tunisia have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Tunisia as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay 120 days visa-free.

### How fast is the internet in Monastir?

Measured median download speed in Monastir was 7 Mbps (upload 0.8 Mbps) across 17,619 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 Monastir?

Not yet. Starlink's availability map lists Tunisia as coming soon (Starting in 2026) as of 2026-10. Roaming plans may work for short stays, but local rules on using them vary.

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

Monastir is served by Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport (MIR) with 63 nonstop destinations, of which 62 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-08.

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

The most comfortable months are Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov. Mean temperatures range from 54°F (12°C) in Feb to 82°F (28°C) in Aug (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Monastir or Sousse: which is better for digital nomads?

Sousse is the city with the closest factor profile to Monastir 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 Monastir](https://navoy.io/hotels/tunisia/monastir) 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]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^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/monastir