NavoyNostos

Semey vs Suva

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Semey edges it, 54 to 53, winning 4 of the 9 factors. Semey is stronger on healthcare; Suva on safety. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 7.6 of 54 points (scores 61/100)Healthcare: 9.6 of 54 points (scores 77/100)Internet: 5.2 of 54 points (scores 42/100)Visa ease: 7.5 of 54 points (scores 60/100)Getting there & around: 1.9 of 54 points (scores 16/100)Climate: 3.1 of 54 points (scores 25/100)Air quality: 11.5 of 54 points (scores 92/100)Quality of life: 7.8 of 54 points (scores 63/100)54
Semey
out of 100

Old Irtysh town of Dostoevsky, Abai and the nuclear Polygon

Full Semey profile →Plan a trip to Semey →
Cost of living: 5.4 of 53 points (scores 48/100)Safety: 8.5 of 53 points (scores 77/100)Healthcare: 6.7 of 53 points (scores 60/100)Internet: 4.6 of 53 points (scores 42/100)Visa ease: 5.8 of 53 points (scores 52/100)Getting there & around: 2.3 of 53 points (scores 21/100)Climate: 2.8 of 53 points (scores 25/100)Air quality: 10.9 of 53 points (scores 98/100)Quality of life: 6.1 of 53 points (scores 55/100)53
Suva
out of 100

Fiji's rainy working capital rather than its resort coast

Full Suva profile →Plan a trip to Suva →

Where they differ

  • Healthcare. Semey leads on healthcare, 77 to 60, against Suva. Health coverage index: 83 vs 69.
  • Safety. Suva leads on safety, 77 to 61, against Semey. Homicides per 100,000: 2.55 vs 2.37.
  • Quality of life. Semey leads on quality of life, 63 to 55, against Suva.

Where they are close. Within five points on internet, climate.

Pick Semey if you want

  • stronger healthcare
  • a dedicated digital-nomad visa

Pick Suva if you want

  • the safer country figures

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricSemeySuva
Cost of livingno data48
Safety6177 ✓
Healthcare77 ✓60
Internet42 ✓42
Visa ease60 ✓52
Getting there & around1621 ✓
Climate2525
Air quality9298 ✓
Quality of life63 ✓55

Cost

MetricSemeySuva
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno data$1,700
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricSemeySuva
Homicides per 100k2.552.37 ✓
Political stability (0–100)6282.8 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)83 ✓69
Life expectancy74.8 yrs ✓68.5 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricSemeySuva
Download7.4 Mbps8.2 Mbps ✓
Upload6.6 Mbps ✓3.9 Mbps

Visa

MetricSemeySuva
Nomad visaNeo Nomad visa (B12-1) ✓none listed
Minimum income for the visa$3,000/mono data
Entry, US passport30 days120 days ✓
Entry, EU passport30 days120 days ✓
Entry, UK passport30 days120 days ✓

Getting there and around

MetricSemeySuva
Non-stop airport destinations440 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)33
Transit (1–5, editorial)22

Climate and air

MetricSemeySuva
Comfortable months per year33
Annual mean PM2.58.7 µg/m³5.9 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Semey or Suva?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Semey or Suva safer?
Suva scores higher on safety (77 vs 61), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Semey or Suva?
Suva: a measured median of 8.2 Mbps versus 7.4 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); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Nostos long-stay visa guides; Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.