NavoyNostos

Apia vs Labuan Bajo

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Labuan Bajo edges it, 55 to 55, winning 2 of the 9 factors. Apia is stronger on air quality; Labuan Bajo on visa ease, getting there & around. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 10.2 of 55 points (scores 71/100)Healthcare: 8.0 of 55 points (scores 56/100)Visa ease: 5.4 of 55 points (scores 38/100)Getting there & around: 3.0 of 55 points (scores 21/100)Climate: 7.1 of 55 points (scores 50/100)Air quality: 14.3 of 55 points (scores 100/100)Quality of life: 6.5 of 55 points (scores 46/100)55
Apia
out of 100

Samoa's laid-back capital, where Sundays stop and the sea is close

Full Apia profile →Where to stay in Apia →
Cost of living: 6.7 of 55 points (scores 60/100)Safety: 7.4 of 55 points (scores 67/100)Healthcare: 6.2 of 55 points (scores 56/100)Internet: 4.9 of 55 points (scores 45/100)Visa ease: 6.0 of 55 points (scores 54/100)Getting there & around: 3.9 of 55 points (scores 35/100)Climate: 5.6 of 55 points (scores 50/100)Air quality: 9.7 of 55 points (scores 87/100)Quality of life: 5.0 of 55 points (scores 45/100)55
Labuan Bajo
out of 100

Harbour town on Flores and the gateway to Komodo

Full Labuan Bajo profile →Where to stay in Labuan Bajo →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricApiaLabuan Bajo
Cost of livingno data60
Safety71 ✓67
Healthcare5656
Internetno data45
Visa ease3854 ✓
Getting there & around2135 ✓
Climate5050
Air quality100 ✓87
Quality of life46 ✓45

Cost

MetricApiaLabuan Bajo
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno data$1,000
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricApiaLabuan Bajo
Homicides per 100k6.260.41 ✓
Political stability (0–100)89 ✓52.7
UHC service coverage (0–100)6267 ✓
Life expectancy70.3 yrs ✓68.3 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricApiaLabuan Bajo
Downloadno data9.5 Mbps
Uploadno data4.5 Mbps

Visa

MetricApiaLabuan Bajo
Nomad visanone listedRemote worker visa (E33G) ✓
Minimum income for the visano data$5,000/mo
Entry, US passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival
Entry, EU passport90 days ✓visa on arrival
Entry, UK passportvisa on arrivalvisa on arrival

Getting there and around

MetricApiaLabuan Bajo
Non-stop airport destinations513 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)23 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)11

Climate and air

MetricApiaLabuan Bajo
Comfortable months per year66
Annual mean PM2.53.7 µg/m³ ✓10.9 µg/m³

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Apia or Labuan Bajo?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Apia or Labuan Bajo safer?
Apia scores higher on safety (71 vs 67), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Apia or Labuan Bajo?
M-Lab has no reliable measurement for one of the two cities.

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Nostos long-stay visa guides; Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.