NavoyNostos

Samarkand vs Siem Reap

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Samarkand edges it, 46 to 43, winning 6 of the 9 factors. Samarkand is stronger on quality of life, healthcare; Siem Reap on nothing outright. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 8.8 of 46 points (scores 70/100)Healthcare: 9.2 of 46 points (scores 74/100)Internet: 7.2 of 46 points (scores 58/100)Visa ease: 4.1 of 46 points (scores 33/100)Getting there & around: 2.4 of 46 points (scores 19/100)Climate: 5.2 of 46 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 4.0 of 46 points (scores 32/100)Quality of life: 5.5 of 46 points (scores 44/100)46
Samarkand
out of 100

Timurid Silk Road city with the Registan at its heart

Full Samarkand profile →Plan a trip to Samarkand →
Cost of living: 8.0 of 43 points (scores 72/100)Safety: 7.9 of 43 points (scores 71/100)Healthcare: 6.6 of 43 points (scores 59/100)Internet: 6.0 of 43 points (scores 54/100)Visa ease: 3.8 of 43 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 1.3 of 43 points (scores 12/100)Climate: 3.7 of 43 points (scores 33/100)Air quality: 3.2 of 43 points (scores 29/100)Quality of life: 2.9 of 43 points (scores 26/100)43
Siem Reap
out of 100

Angkor's town, with a friendly expat community

Full Siem Reap profile →Plan a trip to Siem Reap →

Where they differ

  • Quality of life. Samarkand leads on quality of life, 44 to 26, against Siem Reap.
  • Healthcare. Samarkand leads on healthcare, 74 to 59, against Siem Reap. Health coverage index: 79 vs 62.
  • Climate. Samarkand leads on climate, 42 to 33, against Siem Reap. Comfortable months: 5 vs 4.

Where they are close. Within five points on internet, air quality, visa ease, safety.

Pick Samarkand if you want

  • stronger healthcare

Pick Siem Reap if you want

  • no clear edge over Samarkand in the data

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricSamarkandSiem Reap
Cost of livingno data72
Safety7071 ✓
Healthcare74 ✓59
Internet58 ✓54
Visa ease3334 ✓
Getting there & around19 ✓12
Climate42 ✓33
Air quality32 ✓29
Quality of life44 ✓26

Cost

MetricSamarkandSiem Reap
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno data$1,050
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricSamarkandSiem Reap
Homicides per 100k1.4 ✓1.8
Political stability (0–100)67.471.5 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)79 ✓62
Life expectancy74 yrs ✓71.2 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricSamarkandSiem Reap
Download16.3 Mbps ✓15 Mbps
Upload18.5 Mbps ✓9.9 Mbps

Visa

MetricSamarkandSiem Reap
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passporte-visa requiredvisa on arrival ✓
Entry, EU passport30 daysvisa on arrival ✓
Entry, UK passport30 daysvisa on arrival ✓

Getting there and around

MetricSamarkandSiem Reap
Non-stop airport destinations28 ✓14
Walkability (1–5, editorial)33
Transit (1–5, editorial)2 ✓1

Climate and air

MetricSamarkandSiem Reap
Comfortable months per year5 ✓4
Annual mean PM2.535.8 µg/m³ ✓37 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Samarkand or Siem Reap?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Samarkand or Siem Reap safer?
Siem Reap scores higher on safety (71 vs 70), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Samarkand or Siem Reap?
Samarkand: a measured median of 16.3 Mbps versus 15 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; 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); 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); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.