NavoyNostos

Khiva vs Surabaya

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Surabaya edges it, 50 to 47, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Khiva is stronger on healthcare; Surabaya on visa ease. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 8.8 of 47 points (scores 70/100)Healthcare: 8.6 of 47 points (scores 69/100)Internet: 7.1 of 47 points (scores 57/100)Visa ease: 4.1 of 47 points (scores 33/100)Getting there & around: 6.2 of 47 points (scores 49/100)Climate: 3.1 of 47 points (scores 25/100)Air quality: 3.7 of 47 points (scores 29/100)Quality of life: 5.1 of 47 points (scores 41/100)47
Khiva
out of 100

Walled Silk Road museum town in the Khorezm oasis, 30 km from Urgench airport

Full Khiva profile →Where to stay in Khiva →
Cost of living: 7.0 of 50 points (scores 63/100)Safety: 7.4 of 50 points (scores 67/100)Healthcare: 6.2 of 50 points (scores 56/100)Internet: 5.7 of 50 points (scores 52/100)Visa ease: 6.0 of 50 points (scores 54/100)Getting there & around: 5.2 of 50 points (scores 47/100)Climate: 2.8 of 50 points (scores 25/100)Air quality: 4.1 of 50 points (scores 37/100)Quality of life: 5.0 of 50 points (scores 45/100)50
Surabaya
out of 100

Indonesia's second city, business-first and cheap

Full Surabaya profile →Where to stay in Surabaya →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricKhivaSurabaya
Cost of livingno data63
Safety70 ✓67
Healthcare69 ✓56
Internet57 ✓52
Visa ease3354 ✓
Getting there & around49 ✓47
Climate2525
Air quality2937 ✓
Quality of life4145 ✓

Cost

MetricKhivaSurabaya
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno data$922
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricKhivaSurabaya
Homicides per 100k1.40.41 ✓
Political stability (0–100)67.4 ✓52.7
UHC service coverage (0–100)79 ✓67
Life expectancy72.2 yrs ✓68.3 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricKhivaSurabaya
Download15.3 Mbps ✓14.5 Mbps
Upload17.8 Mbps ✓5.7 Mbps

Visa

MetricKhivaSurabaya
Nomad visanone listedRemote worker visa (E33G) ✓
Minimum income for the visano data$5,000/mo
Entry, US passporte-visa requiredvisa on arrival ✓
Entry, EU passport30 daysvisa on arrival ✓
Entry, UK passport30 daysvisa on arrival ✓

Getting there and around

MetricKhivaSurabaya
Non-stop airport destinations1941 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)5 ✓2
Transit (1–5, editorial)12 ✓

Climate and air

MetricKhivaSurabaya
Comfortable months per year33
Annual mean PM2.536.8 µg/m³33.3 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Khiva or Surabaya?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Khiva or Surabaya safer?
Khiva scores higher on safety (70 vs 67), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Khiva or Surabaya?
Khiva: a measured median of 15.3 Mbps versus 14.5 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); 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); WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages); 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.