NavoyNostos

Malé vs Suva

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Malé edges it, 55 to 54, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Malé is stronger on getting there & around, healthcare; Suva on visa ease, air quality. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 9.4 of 55 points (scores 75/100)Healthcare: 8.6 of 55 points (scores 69/100)Internet: 4.3 of 55 points (scores 35/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 55 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 8.1 of 55 points (scores 65/100)Climate: 2.1 of 55 points (scores 17/100)Air quality: 10.7 of 55 points (scores 85/100)Quality of life: 7.2 of 55 points (scores 58/100)55
Malé
out of 100

Densely packed island capital, a stopover rather than a beach

Full Malé profile →Hotels in the Maldives →
Cost of living: 4.3 of 54 points (scores 38/100)Safety: 8.5 of 54 points (scores 77/100)Healthcare: 5.9 of 54 points (scores 53/100)Internet: 4.6 of 54 points (scores 42/100)Visa ease: 5.8 of 54 points (scores 52/100)Getting there & around: 5.4 of 54 points (scores 49/100)Climate: 2.8 of 54 points (scores 25/100)Air quality: 10.9 of 54 points (scores 98/100)Quality of life: 5.6 of 54 points (scores 50/100)54
Suva
out of 100

Fiji's rainy working capital rather than its resort coast

Full Suva profile →Where to stay in Suva →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricMaléSuva
Cost of livingno data38
Safety7577 ✓
Healthcare69 ✓53
Internet3542 ✓
Visa ease3452 ✓
Getting there & around65 ✓49
Climate1725 ✓
Air quality8598 ✓
Quality of life58 ✓50

Cost

MetricMaléSuva
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno data$1,742
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricMaléSuva
Homicides per 100k0.62 ✓2.37
Political stability (0–100)6782.8 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)71 ✓69
Life expectancy75.4 yrs ✓65.5 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricMaléSuva
Download4.9 Mbps8.2 Mbps ✓
Upload4.5 Mbps ✓3.9 Mbps

Visa

MetricMaléSuva
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passportvisa on arrival120 days ✓
Entry, EU passportvisa on arrival120 days ✓
Entry, UK passportvisa on arrival120 days ✓

Getting there and around

MetricMaléSuva
Non-stop airport destinations56 ✓30
Walkability (1–5, editorial)5 ✓3
Transit (1–5, editorial)22

Climate and air

MetricMaléSuva
Comfortable months per year23 ✓
Annual mean PM2.511.6 µg/m³5.9 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Malé or Suva?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Malé or Suva safer?
Suva scores higher on safety (77 vs 75), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Malé or Suva?
Suva: a measured median of 8.2 Mbps versus 4.9 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); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.