Best of

Best cities for digital nomads (2026)

Editorial ranking optimized for remote workers: low cost (35%), fast internet (25%), safety (20%), healthcare (20%).

Why this list matters

The digital nomad score is designed for the canonical remote-worker profile: foreign income, multi-month stays, optimizing for runway × bandwidth × livability. It's deliberately cost-weighted (35%) because nomads typically gain more from cheap rent than from premium amenities.

Pair the score with the city's visa landscape — high-scoring cities without a usable long-stay visa for your nationality remain operationally hard.

How we ranked

Editorial composite: cost-affordability (35%), internet speed normalized to 250 Mbps (25%), safety (20%), healthcare (20%). Internet caps at 250 Mbps — beyond that doesn't materially affect remote work.

#	City	Nomad score	Internet
1	TaipeiTaiwan	74	300 Mbps
2	Cluj-NapocaRomania	72	300 Mbps
3	BangkokThailand	72	280 Mbps
4	BucharestRomania	71	300 Mbps
5	BusanSouth Korea	69	300 Mbps
6	OsakaJapan	67	250 Mbps
7	Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates	67	250 Mbps
8	SeoulSouth Korea	67	280 Mbps
9	ValenciaSpain	67	220 Mbps
10	TallinnEstonia	67	290 Mbps
11	Kuala LumpurMalaysia	66	168 Mbps
12	BudapestHungary	66	210 Mbps
13	WarsawPoland	66	200 Mbps
14	Chiang MaiThailand	65	150 Mbps
15	TokyoJapan	64	280 Mbps
16	MadridSpain	64	220 Mbps
17	JeddahSaudi Arabia	64	180 Mbps
18	PortoPortugal	64	190 Mbps
19	RiyadhSaudi Arabia	64	180 Mbps
20	DebrecenHungary	63	200 Mbps
21	BeijingChina	63	150 Mbps
22	ShanghaiChina	63	150 Mbps
23	BarcelonaSpain	62	240 Mbps
24	DubaiUnited Arab Emirates	62	250 Mbps
25	LisbonPortugal	61	200 Mbps
26	SingaporeSingapore	60	260 Mbps
27	RotterdamNetherlands	60	240 Mbps
28	PenangMalaysia	59	120 Mbps
29	KrakowPoland	59	150 Mbps
30	AmsterdamNetherlands	59	260 Mbps
31	BangaloreIndia	59	100 Mbps
32	AustinUnited States	59	280 Mbps
33	Hong KongHong Kong	58	220 Mbps
34	MontrealCanada	58	180 Mbps
35	HamburgGermany	58	200 Mbps
36	LyonFrance	58	220 Mbps
37	ZurichSwitzerland	58	250 Mbps
38	MunichGermany	58	200 Mbps
39	ValparaisoChile	57	180 Mbps
40	BerlinGermany	57	180 Mbps
41	Buenos AiresArgentina	56	112 Mbps
42	SantiagoChile	56	180 Mbps
43	ParisFrance	56	250 Mbps
44	ChicagoUnited States	56	250 Mbps
45	FlorenceItaly	56	180 Mbps
46	BrnoCzech Republic	56	100 Mbps
47	MiamiUnited States	56	240 Mbps
48	GothenburgSweden	56	250 Mbps
49	FrankfurtGermany	55	200 Mbps
50	VancouverCanada	55	200 Mbps
51	HanoiVietnam	55	100 Mbps
52	MumbaiIndia	54	60 Mbps
53	SeattleUnited States	54	300 Mbps
54	MedellinColombia	54	90 Mbps
55	Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam	53	75 Mbps
56	Los AngelesUnited States	53	300 Mbps
57	PragueCzech Republic	53	120 Mbps
58	CordobaArgentina	53	70 Mbps
59	AnkaraTurkey	53	40 Mbps
60	São PauloBrazil	53	120 Mbps
61	Rio de JaneiroBrazil	52	150 Mbps
62	TorontoCanada	52	150 Mbps
63	BogotaColombia	52	90 Mbps
64	GenevaSwitzerland	52	220 Mbps
65	DelhiIndia	52	60 Mbps
66	OsloNorway	52	180 Mbps
67	CopenhagenDenmark	52	200 Mbps
68	Mexico CityMexico	52	104 Mbps
69	Tel AvivIsrael	51	180 Mbps
70	CairoEgypt	51	40 Mbps
71	ArequipaPeru	51	70 Mbps
72	BaliIndonesia	51	50 Mbps
73	AlexandriaEgypt	51	40 Mbps
74	MarrakechMorocco	50	50 Mbps
75	New YorkUnited States	50	280 Mbps
76	GuadalajaraMexico	50	80 Mbps
77	IstanbulTurkey	50	40 Mbps
78	WellingtonNew Zealand	50	120 Mbps
79	AntwerpBelgium	49	120 Mbps
80	CebuPhilippines	49	60 Mbps
81	EdinburghUnited Kingdom	49	170 Mbps
82	SalzburgAustria	48	150 Mbps
83	San FranciscoUnited States	48	280 Mbps
84	ManchesterUnited Kingdom	48	180 Mbps
85	LimaPeru	48	80 Mbps
86	CasablancaMorocco	48	50 Mbps
87	ViennaAustria	48	100 Mbps
88	RomeItaly	47	120 Mbps
89	JakartaIndonesia	47	50 Mbps
90	BrisbaneAustralia	47	90 Mbps
91	AucklandNew Zealand	47	120 Mbps
92	ManilaPhilippines	47	60 Mbps
93	StockholmSweden	46	150 Mbps
94	MilanItaly	46	130 Mbps
95	MelbourneAustralia	46	90 Mbps
96	BrusselsBelgium	46	120 Mbps
97	Cape TownSouth Africa	45	60 Mbps
98	AthensGreece	45	70 Mbps
99	LondonUnited Kingdom	44	170 Mbps
100	DublinIreland	44	170 Mbps
101	SydneyAustralia	44	90 Mbps
102	JohannesburgSouth Africa	43	60 Mbps
103	ThessalonikiGreece	40	50 Mbps
104	CorkIreland	39	150 Mbps

The top three, in context

BangkokThailand

Bangkok's score reflects the cost advantage and the 2024 DTV visa. Caveat: air quality is the score's drag — winters bring elevated PM2.5 that affects long-stayers.

What this list doesn't tell you

The score weights aren't universal. If you have kids or a chronic health condition, weight healthcare and safety higher; if you're optimizing pure runway, cost matters more. Use the per-axis breakdowns to re-weight to your situation.

Related rankings

Cities with the fastest internet

Catalog ranked by median fixed-broadband download speed. Critical filter for remote workers and gamers.

Cheapest cities in the Mundevo index (2026)

Every city in the catalog ranked by cost-of-living index. Lower = cheaper. Benchmarked against New York = 100.

Cities with the lowest payroll deduction

Ranked by combined effective income tax + employee-side social security. Lower means a higher take-home from any given gross salary.

Want a different angle? Browse the full /best directory. Or run the numbers for your own city + lifestyle in the salary calculator.