⭐️ Total score | 2.67/5 (Rank #132) |
👍 Quality of life score | Good |
👶 Family score | Okay |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $1,919 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🏎 Fast: 44Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Great |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🥶 Too cold: 11°C52°F (feels 10°C50°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 😊 Comfy: 53% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 🌱 Great: 46 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 | Bad |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | South Korea |
🗓️ Average trip length | 5 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 44 Mbps |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌥 11°C 52°F + 😊 Comfy (53%) = feels 10°C 50°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 46 US AQI 🍃 OK |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎😷 59 US AQI |
🔌 Power | 230V60Hz |
🚕 Best taxi app* | Kakao T |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | Safetywing |
💸 10,000 KRW in USD | USD 7.48 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | KRW 100,000 = USD 75 |
💸 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) | 👨 85% 👱♀️ 15% |
🏞 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 | $1,919 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,216 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $2,567 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $734 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $893 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $1,609 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $443 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $42 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $53 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $179 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $7 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $3 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $3 |
👩🏫 International school | $22,453 / 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
✅ Perfect humidity now
✅ 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 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 | 5714° cool | 6418° cool | 7021° mild | 7926° warm | 8127° warm | 7524° warm | 7021° mild | 5915° cool | 457° cold |
Real | 436° very cold | 5111° cool | 5614° cool | 5915° cool | 6418° cool | 7021° mild | 7926° warm | 8127° warm | 7524° warm | 6820° mild | 5915° cool | 489° 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 34mm | dry 46mm | rainy 90mm | rainy 87mm | rainy 138mm | rainy 150mm | rainy 212mm | rainy 185mm | rainy 161mm | dry 47mm | rainy 53mm | 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 | 371 people | 440 people | 533 people | 489 people | 850 people | 450 people | 400 people | 657 people | 700 people | 489 people | 489 people | 450 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👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 12° 54° 12° 54°AQI 65😷✈️17min$3,960 / 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 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 8° 46° 10° 50°✈️23min$2,534 / 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👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50°AQI 30✈️26min$2,483 / mo75Mbps×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👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50°AQI 30✈️26min$2,483 / mo75Mbps×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 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 8° 46° 10° 50°✈️23min$2,534 / mo41Mbps×2nd time to Tokyo in 2 years. So much to see and do and great value in the past few years due to a declining yen against the USD & Euro. Wework (not open past 6pm & only iceberg open on weekends), Airalo Esim, and Wise Visa are your friend. Check out my Youtube for some nomad guides (Chicvoyage, @digitalnomadworld). I like Roppongi area. Stay in a hotel
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌤 Feels 9° 48° 11° 51°AQI 36✈️1h$2,982 / mo54Mbps×I love Taipei, extremely underrated place—not sure why, though I'm fine with that. The cleanliness, amenities, and kindness of the people will remind you of Tokyo.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 63😷✈️2h$2,138 / mo61Mbps×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👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 12° 54° 12° 54°AQI 65😷✈️17min$3,960 / 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👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55°AQI 53😷✈️47min$2,411 / mo69Mbps×A dystopian cyberpunk metropolis, a veritable Night City, both chaotic and well run, livable yet poisonous. Follow the classic advice: stay near the BTS, skyscraper condo, work from mall libraries, cafes, and commons, don’t be outside. Outsource your chores. On a western salary or with savings, you’ll be playing life on easy mode. Focus your energy on meeting people, honing your body, and learning new skills. There’s a reason it’s number 1. You can disagree, but try to find it.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 40° 104° 34° 93°🥵AQI 90😷✈️5h$1,423 / mo86Mbps×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👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 31° 88° 29° 84°AQI 81😷✈️3h$1,587 / mo44Mbps×The most vietnamese city in Vietnam. The Old Quarter and West Lake are the highlights. If you come, try the egg coffee. Be mindful Vietnam has cracked down on visas, and it is not as friendly to foreigners. I was able to relax after I received a 5-year spousal visa.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 30° 86° 27° 81°AQI 141😷✈️4h$1,143 / mo45Mbps×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 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 36° 97° 36° 98°🥵AQI 174😷✈️5h$973 / mo68Mbps×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👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50°AQI 30✈️26min$2,483 / mo🌇 Also went here172 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👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55°AQI 53😷✈️47min$2,411 / mo🌇 Also went here73 people×2nd time to Tokyo in 2 years. So much to see and do and great value in the past few years due to a declining yen against the USD & Euro. Wework (not open past 6pm & only iceberg open on weekends), Airalo Esim, and Wise Visa are your friend. Check out my Youtube for some nomad guides (Chicvoyage, @digitalnomadworld). I like Roppongi area. Stay in a hotel
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌤 Feels 9° 48° 11° 51°AQI 36✈️1h$2,982 / mo🌇 Also went here113 people×I love Taipei, extremely underrated place—not sure why, though I'm fine with that. The cleanliness, amenities, and kindness of the people will remind you of Tokyo.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 63😷✈️2h$2,138 / mo🌇 Also went here79 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 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 36° 97° 36° 98°🥵AQI 174😷✈️5h$973 / mo🌇 Also went here80 people×A dystopian cyberpunk metropolis, a veritable Night City, both chaotic and well run, livable yet poisonous. Follow the classic advice: stay near the BTS, skyscraper condo, work from mall libraries, cafes, and commons, don’t be outside. Outsource your chores. On a western salary or with savings, you’ll be playing life on easy mode. Focus your energy on meeting people, honing your body, and learning new skills. There’s a reason it’s number 1. You can disagree, but try to find it.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 40° 104° 34° 93°🥵AQI 90😷✈️5h$1,423 / mo🌇 Also went here117 people×It's getting better. I came here just before the Chinese New Year, and the city was very lively. Lots of people, live music, etc. The decorations in the shopping mall were beautiful, and there were so many food options that it would take a year to try them all.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 25° 77° 30° 85°AQI 63😷✈️6h$1,297 / mo🌇 Also went here84 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👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 37° 99° 31° 87°🥵✈️6h$4,235 / mo🌇 Also went here90 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👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 5° 41° 6° 42°AQI 42✈️11h$3,749 / mo🌇 Also went here73 people×I recently visited Amsterdam for the third time (and the first time since 2018). I personally think it's a little overrated, but a cool place to visit nonetheless. The architecture is beautiful, and there are lots of good places to eat. I don't like the main area of the canals in the city centre; it smells of weed and is often packed. However, the outer edges - such as the Jordaan district - are less busy and more interesting in my opinion. One thing that surprised me is how much trash was o
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°AQI 23✈️12h$5,946 / mo🌇 Also went here67 people×I don't understand why London has so high safety rating. Your phone could be stolen and your bicycle WILL be stolen here (or a part of it). I live here 8.5 years and I experienced the above multiple times. Police seems only cares about crime against person by whatever reason. Insure everything expensive that you own. I would also add that antisocial behaviour is quite common here and teenagers are heavily involved in crimes as police don't do anything with them because of their age. Basically th
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57°AQI 38✈️12h$5,642 / mo🌇 Also went here82 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👍 Liked good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61°AQI 72😷✈️12h$4,782 / mo🌇 Also went here82 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 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 72😷✈️13h$4,205 / mo🌇 Also went here72 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👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 67°✈️14h$3,578 / mo🌇 Also went here76 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👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 11° 52° 11° 52°✈️15h$6,369 / mo🌇 Also went here68 people×Can't login? See the FAQ
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