⭐️ Total score | 3.26/5 (Rank #149) |
👍 Quality of life score | Good |
👶 Family score | Okay |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $1,939 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🏎 Fast: 41Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Great |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🥶 A bit cold: 16°C60°F (feels 16°C61°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 💦 Damp: 77% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 🌱 Great: 37 US AQI |
💨 Air quality (annual) | 🌱 Good: 59 US AQI |
👌 Safety | Great |
🤮 Food safety* | Good |
👮♀️ Lack of crime* | Great |
🤝 Lack of racism* | Okay |
🎓 Education level* | High |
⚡️ Power grid | Great |
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change | Good |
💰 Income level* | High: $2,315 / mo |
🙊 English speaking* | Bad |
🚶 Walkability | Great |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Okay |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Okay |
🏥 Hospitals | Good |
😄 Happiness* | Okay |
🍸 Nightlife | Okay |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Great |
🖥 Places to work from | Great |
❄️ A/C or heating | Great |
😁 Friendly to foreigners | Good |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | Good |
👩 Female friendly | Good |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Bad |
🎅 Startup Score | Okay |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | South Korea |
⏱ Average trip length | 5 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 41 Mbps |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌥 16°C 60°F + 💦 Damp (77%) = feels 16°C 61°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 37 US AQI 🍃 OK |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎😷 59 US AQI |
🔌 Power | 230V60Hz |
🚕 Best taxi app* | |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | ![]() |
💸 10,000 KRW in USD | USD 7.59 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | KRW 100,000 = USD 76 |
💸 Tipping | No |
💳 Cashless | 💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere |
💻 Best coworking space | Regus |
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place | Tom N Toms |
🚰 Tap water | 👌 Yes, safe to drink |
♻️ Return rate | 👍10% of visitors return |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 3,400,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $27,785 / year |
👫 Gender ratio (population) | 👨 48% 👱♀️ 52% |
👫 Gender ratio (young adults) | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% |
👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 86% 👱♀️ 14% |
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed | Yes |
⛪️ Religious government | Ambiguous |
💻 Online electronics shop | Gmarket |
🏠 Apartment listings | Stayes |
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Jeju Air |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Korean Air |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $1,939 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,225 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $2,604 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $744 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $908 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $1,597 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $449 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $43 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $52 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $181 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $7 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $3 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $3 |
👩🏫 International school | $22,772 / year |
📱 Mobile data (~10GB) | $9 / month |
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi) | $3 / trip |
✅ Affordable to live
✅ Very safe
✅ Fast internet
✅ Lots of fun stuff to do
✅ Good air quality on average
✅ Many Nomad List members have been
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ Very easy to do business
✅ High quality of education
✅ Great hospitals
✅ Roads are pretty safe
✅ Freedom of speech
✅ Democratic
✅ Very safe for women
❌ Cold now
❌ Gets cold in the winter
❌ Very damp now
❌ Very difficult to make friends
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ Not family friendly
❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+
❌ People smoking tobacco a lot
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Feels | 394° cold | 489° cold | 5412° cool | 6116° cool | 6619° mild | 7222° mild | 8127° warm | 8228° warm | 7725° warm | 7021° mild | 5915° cool | 468° cold |
Real | 436° very cold | 5111° cool | 5614° cool | 6116° cool | 6619° mild | 7222° mild | 8127° warm | 8228° very warm | 7625° warm | 6820° mild | 5915° cool | 4910° cold |
Humidity | too dry 24% | too dry 25% | nice 32% | nice 30% | nice 36% | nice 39% | nice 45% | nice 43% | nice 40% | nice 37% | too dry 28% | too dry 26% |
Most common | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear |
Rain | dry 15mm | dry 21mm | rainy 74mm | dry 44mm | rainy 72mm | rainy 65mm | rainy 96mm | rainy 176mm | rainy 80mm | dry 24mm | dry 26mm | dry 3mm |
Cloud | pockets 16% | pockets 21% | pockets 37% | pockets 38% | pockets 46% | pockets 44% | cloudy 53% | cloudy 52% | cloudy 54% | pockets 27% | pockets 23% | pockets 15% |
Air quality | okay 74 US AQI | okay 98 US AQI | okay 78 US AQI | okay 69 US AQI | okay 83 US AQI | okay 54 US AQI | okay 52 US AQI | okay 64 US AQI | okay 53 US AQI | clean 46 US AQI | okay 60 US AQI | okay 65 US AQI |
Sun | seek shade 3 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 3 UVI | seek shade 3 UVI |
Remote workers | 333 people | 500 people | 467 people | 475 people | 825 people | 425 people | 400 people | 629 people | 667 people | 489 people | 467 people | 400 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Busan's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
I work in Fukuoka and all I can say is that it's a fantastic city. As a disclaimer I happen to be close to fluent in Japanese, and as the metrics here would indicate speaking next to no Japanese might be somewhat difficult, but it's certainly still livable (tons of signage is in English, and there is information on places to go and see in English as well). Also it feels a tad more unexposed in comparison to some of the more major cities, though Fukuoka has a pretty large population at about 1.6
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 65°AQI 46✈️17min$3,093 / mo33Mbps×Jeju now has more coworking spaces across the island due to the remote worker trend going on in Korea. You would have to locate many via google maps though. 1 month stays are trending on the island as well for Korean remote workers. The free coworking space in Jeju city still exists. New hotels are popping up as well. Pandemic travel to the island has given it more life from mainland Koreans. It's good to see the new growth and tech efforts. Jeju still has a lot more potential for the future.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 22✈️23min$2,169 / mo41Mbps×I only stayed for 3 weeks cause the life is kind of boring compared to Tokyo or Osaka. It helps a lot if you speak some korean since not many people speak english and most restaurants don't have english menu. The internet is fast but the public transportation is always crowded.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55°AQI 91😷✈️26min$2,403 / mo89Mbps×I only stayed for 3 weeks cause the life is kind of boring compared to Tokyo or Osaka. It helps a lot if you speak some korean since not many people speak english and most restaurants don't have english menu. The internet is fast but the public transportation is always crowded.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55°AQI 91😷✈️26min$2,403 / mo89Mbps×Tokyo has so much to offer and so much to do. It is easily overwhelming. Whereas I usually take my first week to explore a place Tokyo’s sights just kept on going. I remember ending up in a hidden cocktail bar, a mexican rooftop party with 1 meter margaritas, spending a whole day going only to French places(?), visiting a store that only imported 2nd hand hiphop apparel, and throughout it all the best michelin star ramen. It just seemed endless, completely unrelated and incredibly fun. Six wee
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 17° 62°AQI 19✈️1h$2,873 / mo69Mbps×Jeju now has more coworking spaces across the island due to the remote worker trend going on in Korea. You would have to locate many via google maps though. 1 month stays are trending on the island as well for Korean remote workers. The free coworking space in Jeju city still exists. New hotels are popping up as well. Pandemic travel to the island has given it more life from mainland Koreans. It's good to see the new growth and tech efforts. Jeju still has a lot more potential for the future.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 22✈️23min$2,169 / mo41Mbps×Taipei offers a great value because for far east Asia, it’s quite cheap compared to Korea or Japan. Very pretty historical city. A typical meal is usually 200 which is around $6.50 but you can easily get street food for much cheaper. I stayed for 5 weeks. Pros: extremely safe and clean Friendly locals Lots of Chinese culture - like day trips into tea fields Great tea! People spoke some English Fast wifi Clean air Lots of street food Incredible transportation - so easy to get around
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 25° 77° 25° 78°AQI 40✈️2h$2,207 / mo77Mbps×I work in Fukuoka and all I can say is that it's a fantastic city. As a disclaimer I happen to be close to fluent in Japanese, and as the metrics here would indicate speaking next to no Japanese might be somewhat difficult, but it's certainly still livable (tons of signage is in English, and there is information on places to go and see in English as well). Also it feels a tad more unexposed in comparison to some of the more major cities, though Fukuoka has a pretty large population at about 1.6
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 65°AQI 46✈️17min$3,093 / mo33Mbps×Pros: Friendly people, safe, stable government, efficient and fast public transportation, established foreigner (gaijin) population due many English teachers, many great food options, many festivals (cherry blossom fest), onsens! Cons: Expensive, work til you die at your desk mentality, drunken businessman culture, groping on packed public transit, lack of mental health services so be cautious around the destitute, over sexualization of underage females, high risk if caught with illegal substan
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 62°AQI 61😷✈️47min$2,473 / mo27Mbps×Great for tourism, bad for living. The City has a fascinating contrast of old and new. You will never get bored, it’s easy to meet people and have fun. Infrastructure and food are great. Thai people are friendly and welcoming, even when it not always feels genuine. With that said, it’s not a good city for long term living. It’s too hot and humid. Felt air temperature is between 37°C-45°C almost year round during the day. It’s makes all outdoor activity unpleasant. Getting your daily d
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 38° 100° 33° 91°🥵AQI 155😷✈️5h$1,450 / mo83Mbps×I'm staying in BGC as I write this, and so far PH most aggressively mediocre place I've travelled to in Asia. While I'm used to free/cheap wifi, friendly people, and great food living in place like Thailand, even staying in the most modern area in the country lacks all of those (no free Wifi even at Starbucks, and I've seen "cooked fresh" restaurant food taken out of the freezer before cooking). Social culture is very uncanny valley, people are "polite" but it's extremely fake, which you'll noti
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 34° 93° 30° 85°🥵AQI 55😷✈️3h$1,644 / mo28Mbps×Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°AQI 57😷✈️5h$1,021 / mo60Mbps×I have heard of a friend of a friend that in France it is important to bring sandpaper and to have suitable medical insurance which covers eye reconstruction surgery. “Well worth a visit, would recommend”.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 9° 48° 11° 51°AQI 36✈️12h$4,677 / mo92Mbps×Hong Kong is a great city with dense urban areas but also nature and hiking routes only 15 minutes away. There are restaurants for every taste and budget, from the best US fast casual chains to high end Michelin star restaurants. It's also extremely safe, despite recent political instability.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 23° 73° 23° 73°AQI 82😷✈️3h$2,784 / mo41Mbps×Great for a visit. Beautiful scenery. Good food. I thought it would be great to live here, start a startup and be in the same time zone as SF, close to Seattle, etc. But compared to Vancouver in 2009, one big change that totally ruined it for me: Absolute zombie apocalypse of drug addicts and shouting/violent home less people. It was shockingly bad. The locals often visibly carry naxalone (anti-overdose medicine, I learned) because there are so many people overdosing in the street. Police were n
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open✈️11h$4,550 / mo124Mbps×I only stayed for 3 weeks cause the life is kind of boring compared to Tokyo or Osaka. It helps a lot if you speak some korean since not many people speak english and most restaurants don't have english menu. The internet is fast but the public transportation is always crowded.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55°AQI 91😷✈️26min$2,403 / mo🌇 Also went here183 people×Pros: Friendly people, safe, stable government, efficient and fast public transportation, established foreigner (gaijin) population due many English teachers, many great food options, many festivals (cherry blossom fest), onsens! Cons: Expensive, work til you die at your desk mentality, drunken businessman culture, groping on packed public transit, lack of mental health services so be cautious around the destitute, over sexualization of underage females, high risk if caught with illegal substan
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 62°AQI 61😷✈️47min$2,473 / mo🌇 Also went here86 people×Tokyo has so much to offer and so much to do. It is easily overwhelming. Whereas I usually take my first week to explore a place Tokyo’s sights just kept on going. I remember ending up in a hidden cocktail bar, a mexican rooftop party with 1 meter margaritas, spending a whole day going only to French places(?), visiting a store that only imported 2nd hand hiphop apparel, and throughout it all the best michelin star ramen. It just seemed endless, completely unrelated and incredibly fun. Six wee
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 17° 62°AQI 19✈️1h$2,873 / mo🌇 Also went here131 people×Taipei offers a great value because for far east Asia, it’s quite cheap compared to Korea or Japan. Very pretty historical city. A typical meal is usually 200 which is around $6.50 but you can easily get street food for much cheaper. I stayed for 5 weeks. Pros: extremely safe and clean Friendly locals Lots of Chinese culture - like day trips into tea fields Great tea! People spoke some English Fast wifi Clean air Lots of street food Incredible transportation - so easy to get around
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 25° 77° 25° 78°AQI 40✈️2h$2,207 / mo🌇 Also went here92 people×Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°AQI 57😷✈️5h$1,021 / mo🌇 Also went here84 people×Great for tourism, bad for living. The City has a fascinating contrast of old and new. You will never get bored, it’s easy to meet people and have fun. Infrastructure and food are great. Thai people are friendly and welcoming, even when it not always feels genuine. With that said, it’s not a good city for long term living. It’s too hot and humid. Felt air temperature is between 37°C-45°C almost year round during the day. It’s makes all outdoor activity unpleasant. Getting your daily d
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 38° 100° 33° 91°🥵AQI 155😷✈️5h$1,450 / mo🌇 Also went here128 people×In terms of value for money for a city, I would say Kuala Lumpur is the best in all of Asia, high-quality apartments at a good price, high-quality restaurants, has a car scene if you are a car guy. I found it quite safe. For me, the weather was like 4 seasons in one day almost every day. Rains a lot, a lot of storms and also very hot and humid. Dating was ok not bad like Western countries but not the best. I found the city quite boring itself, not a lot to see inside of the city. If you are
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 24° 75° 29° 84°AQI 73😷✈️6h$1,346 / mo🌇 Also went here90 people×So… amazing food. Great public transportation. Very clean. But very conformist. Self expression limited. The irony of seeing an exhibit on graffiti, yet no actual graffiti in the streets. And the causal racism especially if you’re brown. You could be British born but still expect to be sat far away from everyone else at cocktail bars, experience comments and have weird assumptions made.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82°🥵AQI 25✈️6h$4,101 / mo🌇 Also went here100 people×I've been hanging out in Berlin on and off for 30 years. It is very safe for women. It is much friendlier than it used to be. There are loads of vegan restaurants now. The nightlife and specially jazz clubs are amazing! I have an excellent apartment to rent out in Wedding - which used to have a boring reputation but now is very cool.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 6° 43° 7° 44°AQI 50✈️11h$3,557 / mo🌇 Also went here85 people×I find it difficult to understand what people see in this city. The cost to benefit ratio is just so terribly bad! This is by far the most expensive city in Europe (especially in terms of rent), with hardly anything to offer in comparision with other cities like Barcelona, Lisbon or Warsaw. The weather is just average, with cold and windy winters and mediocre summers. It's difficult to come by restaurants that offer anything other than Indian fast food for a decent price - most places are just u
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 10° 50° 11° 53°AQI 34✈️12h$5,463 / mo🌇 Also went here92 people×I have heard of a friend of a friend that in France it is important to bring sandpaper and to have suitable medical insurance which covers eye reconstruction surgery. “Well worth a visit, would recommend”.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 9° 48° 11° 51°AQI 36✈️12h$4,677 / mo🌇 Also went here94 people×I don't know exactly how Barcelona is still considered safe but it's far from it. It's probably the most dangerous city to live in Madrid and one of the most dangerous in europe, with constant pick-pocketing and even violent crimes to get your wallet and phone in certain areas. If you like a peaceful life, Barcelona is not the place anymore!!
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 15° 59° 15° 59°AQI 30✈️13h$3,530 / mo🌇 Also went here82 people×Once you figure out housing (not an easy thing but doable, especially once you stop looking in the touristic areas), Lisbon is a very charming, safe (even though I'll admit this is getting worse in certain areas), and fun city to live in. In most neighbourhoods you have the feeling of living in a small town instead of an urban area. There's aways something to do or see so it's hard to be bored living here. I still find Lisbon (and Portugal in general), to be one of the most attractive places in
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 2✈️14h$3,260 / mo🌇 Also went here84 people×New York is cool. I’ve visited multiple times to see my family throughout my life, and recently came back from my first post-COVID trip there. Yes, it’s very expensive — but there is no city on earth that’s more captivating in my opinion. I used to think that New Yorkers were smug by claiming that NYC was better than everywhere else, but now I totally get it lol. My personal favourite neighbourhood is the Upper East Side, which is where you’ll find the coveted Museum Mile. But I also
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57°AQI 85😷✈️15h$7,583 / mo🌇 Also went here84 people×