⭐️ Total score | 3.88/5 (Rank #72) |
❤️ Liked by members | 👍100% liked it 👎0% disliked it |
👍 Quality of life score | Okay |
👶 Family score | Okay |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $1,347 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🤬 Unusably slow: 3Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Okay |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🥶 Too cold: 14°C56°F (feels 14°C57°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 😊 Comfy: 69% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 😷 Unhealthy for some: 127 US AQI |
💨 Air quality (annual) | 😷 Unhealthy for some: 101 US AQI |
👌 Safety | Great |
🤮 Food safety* | Good |
👮♀️ Lack of crime* | Great |
🤝 Lack of racism* | Bad |
🎓 Education level* | Mediocre |
⚡️ Power grid | Great |
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change | Good |
💰 Income level* | Very low: $677 / mo |
🙊 English speaking* | Bad |
😤 People density | 🧘♀️ Low density: 6k ppl/km² (1 per 13x13m) |
🚶 Walkability | Great |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Okay |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Bad |
🏥 Hospitals | Okay |
😄 Happiness* | Okay |
🍸 Nightlife | Okay |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Okay |
🖥 Places to work from | Great |
❄️ A/C or heating | Good |
😁 Friendly to foreigners | Okay |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | Bad |
👩 Female friendly | Good |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Okay |
🎅 Startup Score | Bad |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | China |
⏱ Average trip length | 7 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 3 Mbps ⚠️ Internet in Chengdu is fast averaging 24 Mbps but the Great Firewall slows down speeds to foreign websites by 8x to ~3 Mbps. |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌥 14°C 56°F + 😊 Comfy (69%) = feels 14°C 57°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👎😷 127 US AQI = 🚬 🚬 / day |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎☠️ 101 US AQI = 🚬 / day |
🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
🚕 Best taxi app* | |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | ![]() |
💸 10 CNY in USD | USD 1.40 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | CNY 1,000 = USD 140 |
💸 Tipping | No |
💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners because WeChat is very hard to set up) |
☕️ Best coffee place | Nu Cafe |
☕️ Best alt. coffee place | Dou Dou Cafe |
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place | Aoting Garden Hotel |
🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
♻️ Return rate | 👍10% of visitors return |
📸 Visitors per year | 1,740,000 visitors |
📸 Tourists now | 33,347 tourists |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 16,000,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $8,126 / year |
😤 Population density | 🤨 busy: 13x13m (169m²) per person |
👫 Gender ratio (population) | 👨 54% 👱♀️ 46% |
👫 Gender ratio (young adults) | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% |
👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 76% 👱♀️ 24% |
⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
🏠 Apartment listings | Wimdu |
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Hainan |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Air China |
🏥 Best hospital | ParkwayHealth China |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $1,347 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $870 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $2,252 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $644 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $599 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $1,196 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $424 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $28 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $39 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $222 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $2 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $0 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $1 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $4 |
👩🏫 International school | $18,540 / year |
📱 Mobile data (~10GB) | $3 / month |
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi) | $1 / trip |
✅ Affordable to live
✅ Very safe
✅ Warm in the spring
✅ Nomad List members liked going here a lot
✅ Easy to do business
✅ Good hospitals
✅ Very safe for women
✅ LGBTQ+ friendly
❌ No freedom of speech
❌ No democracy
❌ Very slow internet
❌ Not much to do
❌ Cold now
❌ Gets cold in the winter
❌ Too hot in the summer
❌ Not many Nomad List members go here
❌ Feels crowded
❌ Difficult to make friends
❌ Quality of education is low
❌ Roads can be dangerous
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ Not family friendly
❌ People smoking tobacco a lot
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Feels | 489° cold | 5513° cool | 6619° mild | 7021° mild | 7725° warm | 8228° warm | 9334° hot | 8429° warm | 8127° warm | 6418° cool | 5513° cool | 5010° cold |
Real | 489° cold | 5513° cool | 6519° mild | 6921° mild | 7625° warm | 8228° very warm | 8932° hot | 8329° very warm | 8027° warm | 6418° cool | 5513° cool | 5010° cold |
Humidity | nice 34% | nice 33% | nice 35% | nice 38% | nice 37% | nice 40% | nice 47% | nice 46% | nice 43% | nice 42% | nice 36% | nice 34% |
Most common | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☀️ Clear | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear |
Rain | dry 6mm | dry 5mm | dry 17mm | dry 30mm | dry 25mm | dry 31mm | rainy 148mm | rainy 99mm | rainy 68mm | dry 44mm | dry 9mm | dry 8mm |
Cloud | cloudy 51% | pockets 44% | cloudy 55% | cloudy 60% | cloudy 60% | cloudy 57% | pockets 45% | cloudy 61% | cloudy 54% | cloudy 67% | cloudy 59% | cloudy 54% |
Air quality | bad 167 US AQI | bad 158 US AQI | bad 145 US AQI | bad 130 US AQI | bad 121 US AQI | bad 101 US AQI | okay 90 US AQI | bad 101 US AQI | okay 89 US AQI | bad 106 US AQI | bad 142 US AQI | bad 160 US AQI |
Sun | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 3 UVI |
Remote workers | 300 people | 333 people | 200 people | 200 people | 350 people | 233 people | 400 people | 267 people | 267 people | 333 people | 350 people | 240 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Chengdu's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
I lived in Chongqing for about 5 years. I mostly love this place but it's not easy for Westerners unless you can speak some Chinese. But with a smartphone you can translate anything you need to say. Chongqing is beautiful, gritty and romantic. Extremely inexpensive and lots of things to do. Beautiful women. Maybe the most unique city in China. Weather terrible in winter and summer. Winter is foggy, rainy and low light while summers are uncomfortably hot and humid. They don't speak standard Manda
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57°AQI 112😷✈️22min$1,414 / mo4Mbps×Shanghai is a giant city and your experience really depends on a few factors like: 1) where you live in the city 2) do you speak basic Mandarin 3) do you make nice money 4) do you have to use the internet If you can afford to live in Jing'an or the French Concession, you can live a fashionable metropolitan lifestyle like you would in New York City. There's amazing food (Asian, Western and fusion). You'll be surrounded by entrepreneurs, artists, fashion designers and models. Many of whom d
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61°AQI 164😷✈️2h$1,928 / mo4Mbps×I lived in Beijing for almost 3 years from 2014-2017. It's an incredible city with a lot to offer. It's an imposing place and not the most welcoming, but that's because it takes time to adjust. In a nutshell: beautiful parks, very modern infrastructure , friendly people, good transportation (the subway is FAR superior to London or NYC, for example), amazing food, relatively cheap, extremely safe, loads to do, incredible history. The one major con is the air pollution—it can get really bad, so
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 6° 43° 7° 45°AQI 134😷✈️2h$2,495 / mo4Mbps×I lived in Chongqing for about 5 years. I mostly love this place but it's not easy for Westerners unless you can speak some Chinese. But with a smartphone you can translate anything you need to say. Chongqing is beautiful, gritty and romantic. Extremely inexpensive and lots of things to do. Beautiful women. Maybe the most unique city in China. Weather terrible in winter and summer. Winter is foggy, rainy and low light while summers are uncomfortably hot and humid. They don't speak standard Manda
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57°AQI 112😷✈️22min$1,414 / mo4Mbps×Pretty much near impossible to get by if English is your only language. Couldn't get a Chinese SIM. Experienced Racism in bars / clubs as the only Westerners in there. Bar staff disinterested to serve us and looking down on us. Beautiful skyline very impressive modern architecture but generally a nightmare getting around if you don't speak any Chinese. Wouldn't go again
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 21° 70° 20° 68°AQI 63😷✈️2h$1,455 / mo3Mbps×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 39° 102° 32° 89°🥵AQI 103😷✈️3h$1,414 / mo82Mbps×I spent 4 months working here during summertime. It's one of the best summers I have ever had in my life. The city is just amazing and offers dozens of outdoor activities. There are so many different places such as parks, lakes, hills, mountains, beaches, etc. Also, you can feel the Californication vibe on every step. I lived in Hollywood and I would avoid this place at any cost. It's just too overrated and won't meet your expectations. Hollywood (esp. West Hollywood) is a big pile of dirtiness
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 20° 68° 20° 69°AQI 37✈️15h$5,343 / mo99Mbps×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°AQI 23✈️16h$7,576 / mo130Mbps×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82°🥵AQI 55😷✈️4h$4,028 / mo54Mbps×Very good, Glorious leader Kim Jong-Un helped me see the true beauty of TRUE KOREA.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 4° 39° 5° 40°AQI 112😷✈️3h$2,039 / mo1Mbps×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°AQI 69😷✈️1h$1,128 / mo🌇 Also went here28 people×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70°AQI 118😷✈️2h$2,869 / mo🌇 Also went here38 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°AQI 59😷✈️2h$1,022 / mo🌇 Also went here32 people×I lived in Beijing for almost 3 years from 2014-2017. It's an incredible city with a lot to offer. It's an imposing place and not the most welcoming, but that's because it takes time to adjust. In a nutshell: beautiful parks, very modern infrastructure , friendly people, good transportation (the subway is FAR superior to London or NYC, for example), amazing food, relatively cheap, extremely safe, loads to do, incredible history. The one major con is the air pollution—it can get really bad, so
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 6° 43° 7° 45°AQI 134😷✈️2h$2,495 / mo🌇 Also went here40 people×Shanghai is a giant city and your experience really depends on a few factors like: 1) where you live in the city 2) do you speak basic Mandarin 3) do you make nice money 4) do you have to use the internet If you can afford to live in Jing'an or the French Concession, you can live a fashionable metropolitan lifestyle like you would in New York City. There's amazing food (Asian, Western and fusion). You'll be surrounded by entrepreneurs, artists, fashion designers and models. Many of whom d
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61°AQI 164😷✈️2h$1,928 / mo🌇 Also went here44 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 14✈️2h$2,202 / mo🌇 Also went here30 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 39° 102° 32° 89°🥵AQI 103😷✈️3h$1,414 / mo🌇 Also went here42 people×Stayed here for a month. It reminds me of a less-developed Bangkok. Although there are a lot of high-rise buildings being built at the moment. Very cheap place compared to lots of places in Asia however it's one of the most expensive places in Vietnam. I wouldn't stay here long term, good for a month but was ready to move on. Pros: - Cheap city - Has lots of bars and restaurants - Has some good day trips and activities - Safe - Very cheap Ubers Cons: - Can be extremely hot during the day which
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 38° 100° 31° 88°🥵AQI 33✈️3h$1,061 / mo🌇 Also went here31 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82°🥵AQI 55😷✈️4h$4,028 / mo🌇 Also went here41 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 10° 50° 11° 52°AQI 9✈️4h$2,985 / mo🌇 Also went here31 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 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 5° 41° 8° 46°AQI 28✈️11h$5,014 / mo🌇 Also went here33 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 3° 37° 5° 42°AQI 17✈️11h$5,988 / mo🌇 Also went here34 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 17° 63°AQI 2✈️13h$3,275 / mo🌇 Also went here29 people×How did SF get scored #98 on Nomad score? I agree with most of the reviews posted here. I generally work from home, but we recently rented a small conference room for a meeting. It was $250 per hour.. (yes Per Hour... no typos here).
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 14° 57° 14° 58°AQI 34✈️15h$5,653 / mo🌇 Also went here27 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°AQI 23✈️16h$7,576 / mo🌇 Also went here28 people×