Italy vs Malta

Italy's $1,918/mo monthly cost (across 19 scored cities); Malta has no monthly cost data yet — not enough data to call a winner.

Italy's 2.3/5 safety score (across 19 scored cities); Malta's 4.0/5 safety score (across 1 scored city) — not enough data to call a winner.

Italy's 2.9/5 mobility score (across 436 scored cities); Malta's 2.8/5 mobility score (across 2 scored cities) — not enough data to call a winner.

Italy's 3.5/5 culture score (across 19 scored cities); Malta's 3.4/5 culture score (across 1 scored city) — not enough data to call a winner.

Italy's passport reaches 101 destinations visa-free to Malta's 107 — Malta opens more doors without a visa. Passport strength shifts over years of naturalisation, not months of planning, so it's a long-horizon footnote — not scored in the tally.

Italy is better connected: 225M passengers/yr against Malta's 9.0M passengers/yr. Italy is busier than 79 of 87 countries worldwide; Malta is quieter than 64 of 87 countries worldwide. Italy sees ~4 air passengers per resident a year; Malta sees ~19 air passengers per resident a year — a derived figure, not itself ranked.

Italy runs -5°C to 36°C for most people; Malta runs -2°C to 34°C for most people. Bolzano runs colder, at -17°C. Depends on you — which range fits your tolerance is the real question here, not a score.