Which is cheaper, Florianópolis or Santa Marta?

Santa Marta is cheaper: about $1,000 per month versus $1,300 for one person.

Is Florianópolis or Santa Marta safer?

Florianópolis scores higher on safety (24 vs 16), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Florianópolis or Santa Marta?

Florianópolis: a measured median of 43.8 Mbps versus 24.7 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Florianópolis vs Santa Marta

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Santa Marta edges it, 59 to 58, winning 6 of the 9 factors. Florianópolis is stronger on internet; Santa Marta on climate, cost of living. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Florianópolis

out of 100

Island beaches and Brazil's tech island

Full Florianópolis profile →

Santa Marta

out of 100

Caribbean base for Tayrona and the Sierra Nevada

Full Santa Marta profile →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Florianópolis	Santa Marta
Cost of living	56	67 ✓
Safety	24 ✓	16
Healthcare	70	73 ✓
Internet	69 ✓	57
Visa ease	76 ✓	71
Getting there & around	13	16 ✓
Climate	75	92 ✓
Air quality	82	89 ✓
Quality of life	53	53 ✓

Cost

Metric	Florianópolis	Santa Marta
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city	$1,300	$1,000 ✓
Central one-bedroom rent	no data	no data

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Florianópolis	Santa Marta
Homicides per 100k	32.3 ✓	35.7
Political stability (0–100)	57 ✓	49.3
UHC service coverage (0–100)	84 ✓	82
Life expectancy	72.4 yrs	74.5 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Florianópolis	Santa Marta
Download	43.8 Mbps ✓	24.7 Mbps
Upload	26.6 Mbps ✓	15.3 Mbps

Visa

Metric	Florianópolis	Santa Marta
Nomad visa	Visto Temporário para Nômade Digital (Digital Nomad Visa)	Visa V Trabajador Remoto / Nómadas Digitales
Minimum income for the visa	$1,499/mo	no data
Visa-free days, US passport	90 days	90 days
Visa-free days, EU passport	90 days	90 days
Visa-free days, UK passport	90 days	90 days

Getting there and around

Metric	Florianópolis	Santa Marta
Non-stop airport destinations	21 ✓	6
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	2	3 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	Florianópolis	Santa Marta
Comfortable months per year	9	11 ✓
Annual mean PM2.5	13.2 µg/m³	10 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Florianópolis or Santa Marta?: Santa Marta is cheaper: about $1,000 per month versus $1,300 for one person.
Is Florianópolis or Santa Marta safer?: Florianópolis scores higher on safety (24 vs 16), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Florianópolis or Santa Marta?: Florianópolis: a measured median of 43.8 Mbps versus 24.7 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

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); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; 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); WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8); 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). Dataset 2026.09.4. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.