⭐️ Total score | 2.69/5 (Rank #676) |
❤️ Liked by members | 👍75% liked it 👎25% disliked it |
👍 Quality of life score | Good |
👶 Family score | Good |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 🧐 Too expensive: $4,029 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🚀 Super fast: 51Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Bad |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🥶 Too cold: 10°C50°F (feels 8°C46°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 💦 Damp: 86% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 🌱 Great: 31 US AQI |
👌 Safety | Great |
🤮 Food safety* | Great |
👮♀️ Lack of crime* | Great |
🤝 Lack of racism* | Good |
🎓 Education level* | High |
⚡️ Power grid | Great |
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change | Okay |
💰 Income level* | Very high: $3,538 / mo |
🙊 English speaking* | Okay |
😤 People density | 🧘♀️ Sprawling: 2k ppl/km² (20x20m) |
🚶 Walkability | Great |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Good |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Okay |
🏥 Healthcare* | Great |
😄 Happiness* | Good |
🍸 Nightlife | Bad |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Bad |
🖥 Places to work from | Great |
❄️ A/C or heating | Okay |
😁 Friendly to foreigners | Okay |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | Great |
👩 Female friendly | Great |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Great |
🎅 Startup Score | Okay |
🌍 Continent | Europe |
🚩 Country | Germany |
⏱ Average trip length | 5 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 51 Mbps |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌧 10°C 50°F + 💦 Damp (86%) = feels 8°C 46°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 31 US AQI 🍃 OK |
🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay | Neustadt/Süd |
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood | Mülheim |
🚕 Best taxi app* | |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | ![]() |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | EUR 100 = USD 109 |
💸 Tipping | Yes, 7.50% |
💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners) |
💻 Best coworking space | Startplatz |
💻 Best alt. coworking space | Coworking Cologne |
🚰 Tap water | 👌 Yes, safe to drink |
♻️ Return rate | 9% of visitors return |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 1,000,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $42,456 / year |
😤 Population density | 🧘♀️ empty: 20x20m (400m²) per person |
👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 86% 👱♀️ 14% |
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed | Yes |
⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
💻 Online electronics shop | Amazon |
🏠 Apartment listings | WG Gesucht |
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Germanwings |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Lufthansa |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $4,029 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $2,836 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $5,283 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $1,509 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $2,042 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $4,519 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $1,117 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $96 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $148 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $317 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $10 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $4 |
🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $6 |
☕️ Coffee | $3 |
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000 | $11,133 |
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000 | $34,508 |
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000 | $100,974 |
✅ Very safe
✅ Fast internet
✅ Good air quality on average
✅ Many Nomad List members have been
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ Very easy to do business
✅ High quality of education
✅ Roads are very safe
✅ Great freedom of speech
✅ Democratic
✅ People can speak basic English
✅ Very safe for women
✅ Family friendly
✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+
❌ Way too expensive
❌ Not much to do
❌ Cold now
❌ Gets cold in the winter
❌ Very damp now
❌ Not many Nomad List members right now
❌ Very difficult to make friends
❌ Hospitals are bad
❌ Many people smoke tobacco
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Feels | 341° cold | 489° cold | 468° cold | 5211° cool | 5714° cool | 7524° warm | 7222° mild | 7021° mild | 7021° mild | 5915° cool | 468° cold | 415° cold |
Real | 373° very cold | 5010° cold | 489° cold | 5211° cool | 5714° cool | 7524° warm | 7222° mild | 7021° mild | 6921° mild | 5915° cool | 489° cold | 436° very cold |
Humidity | damp 83% | damp 76% | nice 69% | nice 68% | damp 75% | nice 76% | nice 83% | nice 81% | nice 77% | damp 78% | damp 83% | damp 84% |
Rain | rainy 112mm | rainy 56mm | rainy 56mm | rainy 52mm | rainy 98mm | rainy 56mm | rainy 172mm | rainy 73mm | dry 41mm | dry 49mm | rainy 51mm | rainy 71mm |
Cloud | overcast 93% | cloudy 70% | cloudy 79% | cloudy 72% | cloudy 81% | cloudy 80% | cloudy 80% | cloudy 74% | cloudy 69% | cloudy 80% | cloudy 77% | overcast 92% |
Sun | safe 1 UVI | safe 1 UVI | safe 2 UVI | seek shade 3 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | safe 2 UVI | safe 1 UVI | safe 1 UVI |
Remote workers | 587 people | 585 people | 727 people | 740 people | 620 people | 657 people | 900 people | 786 people | 814 people | 709 people | 667 people | 867 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Cologne's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
My favorite tiny big city! Everything super close together, but a massive breadth of culture, activities, neighborhoods.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 8° 46° 10° 49°AQI 29🚕1h$5,012 / mo51Mbps×Pros : * Everyone speaks in English. * Nice people, everyone is helpful. * Great airport, cheap flights. * Nice bars. Cons : * Weather is bad especially during winter, always cloudy, no sun. * Hard to make local friends, people are nice but distant. * Quite expensive to eat outside. * Most of the stores they don't accept Visa and Mastercard, you need to have Maestro card. * Housing is expensive and it's hard to find house.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 8° 46° 10° 50°AQI 29🚕4h$5,248 / mo47Mbps×Also known as 'Havanna at the Waal' due to its leftist city council and progressive (ex-)student population.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 8° 46° 10° 50°AQI 28✈️10min$4,584 / mo32Mbps×Very luxurious yet has some parts of the city that are charming and have gothic architecture. A lot of tourists and people from Balkans who work in region. Pretty expensive. If you are not very rich just visit it and choose to stay in some other, more modest german city. In my opinion Frankfurt is city nr 3 in Germany after Berlin and Munich and I have travelled through much of Germany. Hamburg and Cologne are somewhere with the Frankfurt, but Frankfurt is more luxurious.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 8° 46° 10° 50°AQI 30✈️12min$4,024 / mo48Mbps×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 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 6° 43° 8° 46°AQI 46✈️38min$4,089 / mo51Mbps×A top city. Everything works, beautiful greenery (hehe), cycling everywhere, happy people, great nightlife... Lots to love about. For nomads? Not a chance. Price of housing is outrageous, and the city is expensive af. They charge you 4.5-5 eur for a capuccino, completely shameless. An hour of public transport is 3 euros. I could go on and on. I'd love to live there, but it's not worth it.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 7° 45° 9° 48°AQI 40✈️17min$9,113 / mo14Mbps×How did you guys classified Penge as rich? It is one of the worst neighbourhood I have ever been in London, the ammount of people I know that have been robbed there is appalling.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌦 Feels 9° 48° 10° 49°AQI 34✈️40min$6,371 / mo16Mbps×Just came back from my second proper trip to Copenhagen. Now, I've been there in February and August, which is a huge contrast in this city. Winter: Copenhagen is great for cafes, working in them and experiencing the "hygge" (coziness) lifestyle. Why? Because the weather is so cold, windy and partly rainy that you just don't want to spend time outside. If you have someone to cuddle with, I highly recommend going there in Winter. Summer: Just amazing. If the weather is good you have several
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 3° 37° 6° 44°AQI 23✈️52min$6,197 / mo43Mbps×Lived there last September and October and am coming back later this year. Yes, it is expensive, but after a while I learned about affordable places to eat and realized I could choose neighborhoods farther from city center, and it would still be nice. City feels super safe, even at nigh! Internet is crazy fast (I got 500mb on my airbnb) there are tons to do and see and I did not encounter the super rude Parisians people talk so much about, mostly everyone spoke English and were very polite. Rent
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌦 Feels 11° 52° 13° 55°AQI 31✈️32min$5,883 / mo19Mbps×I was in Munich for 9 months and couldn't get used to the city. It's actually a small town for old and rich people. The flair is not international, but terribly German-conservative. There is neither an interesting start-up nor a tech community. Many people are unfriendly when you speak English. The leisure activities outside Munich (nature) are nice, unfortunately there is not much going on in the city compared to London, Berlin or Barcelona. In Germany, everyone seems to want to go to Berlin, s
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌦 Feels 6° 43° 9° 48°AQI 30✈️36min$4,496 / mo51Mbps×Very luxurious yet has some parts of the city that are charming and have gothic architecture. A lot of tourists and people from Balkans who work in region. Pretty expensive. If you are not very rich just visit it and choose to stay in some other, more modest german city. In my opinion Frankfurt is city nr 3 in Germany after Berlin and Munich and I have travelled through much of Germany. Hamburg and Cologne are somewhere with the Frankfurt, but Frankfurt is more luxurious.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 8° 46° 10° 50°AQI 30✈️12min$4,024 / mo48Mbps×Nomading here is tough because there are no reasonable Airbnbs and finding a short-term apt is difficult. You have to ask yourself, is it worth coming to Barcelona? It's probably the dirtiest city in Spain, and a bit sketchy. There's more beautiful and cleaner cities like Seville where you can find a reasonably priced Airbnb.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 26✈️1h$5,319 / mo21Mbps×Extremely boring and uppity. Like others say, how on earth does everything close at 8pm? Even restaurants close their kitchen around 9pm ON WEEKENDS. The people really have this "arrogant, uppity" vibe that makes you want to leave ASAP. Yes, architecture is incredible. It's walkable, transportation works, etc. Incredibly expensive. I see no reason why would anyone choose Vienna to Budapest or Prague as their base. Good for 2-3 days trip, nothing else.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌦 Feels 13° 55° 14° 58°AQI 13✈️59min$5,232 / mo15Mbps×Super expensive city, with some nice tourist attractions. Wouldn't recommend staying here for a longer time as price levels are almost Parisienne. Also, you can easily see all the good spots within 3 days or so. Pros: - nice tourist attractions (quite a couple of them) - many food options - people are open & friendly Cons: - hella expensive - limited vegan food options - you should at least understand some Dutch or French to survive here
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 6° 43° 9° 48°AQI 29✈️15min$5,826 / mo26Mbps×My favorite tiny big city! Everything super close together, but a massive breadth of culture, activities, neighborhoods.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 8° 46° 10° 49°AQI 29🚕1h$5,012 / mo51Mbps×Lisbon is not a fairytale of fine words, try the bureaucratic reality later tell me something, always remember the natives just want your money if you don't have it they are not there for you
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66°AQI 23✈️2h$4,054 / mo35Mbps×A top city. Everything works, beautiful greenery (hehe), cycling everywhere, happy people, great nightlife... Lots to love about. For nomads? Not a chance. Price of housing is outrageous, and the city is expensive af. They charge you 4.5-5 eur for a capuccino, completely shameless. An hour of public transport is 3 euros. I could go on and on. I'd love to live there, but it's not worth it.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 7° 45° 9° 48°AQI 40✈️17min$9,113 / mo🌇 Also went here238 people×Lived there last September and October and am coming back later this year. Yes, it is expensive, but after a while I learned about affordable places to eat and realized I could choose neighborhoods farther from city center, and it would still be nice. City feels super safe, even at nigh! Internet is crazy fast (I got 500mb on my airbnb) there are tons to do and see and I did not encounter the super rude Parisians people talk so much about, mostly everyone spoke English and were very polite. Rent
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌦 Feels 11° 52° 13° 55°AQI 31✈️32min$5,883 / mo🌇 Also went here287 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 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 6° 43° 8° 46°AQI 46✈️38min$4,089 / mo🌇 Also went here401 people×How did you guys classified Penge as rich? It is one of the worst neighbourhood I have ever been in London, the ammount of people I know that have been robbed there is appalling.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌦 Feels 9° 48° 10° 49°AQI 34✈️40min$6,371 / mo🌇 Also went here259 people×Prague is a beautiful city and I like it despite its quirks. I use it as a base in Europe. It has literally everything you need for long-term living: high-quality food, great nightlife, cool malls with lots of shops, and most people speak English. It even has its own local version of Amazon called Alza, with pick-up stations scattered all over the city, which is great because you usually cannot receive packages in an Airbnb. The city is very walkable and I love just walking around, looking at
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 10° 50° 11° 51°AQI 24✈️43min$4,553 / mo🌇 Also went here234 people×Just came back from my second proper trip to Copenhagen. Now, I've been there in February and August, which is a huge contrast in this city. Winter: Copenhagen is great for cafes, working in them and experiencing the "hygge" (coziness) lifestyle. Why? Because the weather is so cold, windy and partly rainy that you just don't want to spend time outside. If you have someone to cuddle with, I highly recommend going there in Winter. Summer: Just amazing. If the weather is good you have several
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 3° 37° 6° 44°AQI 23✈️52min$6,197 / mo🌇 Also went here213 people×Extremely boring and uppity. Like others say, how on earth does everything close at 8pm? Even restaurants close their kitchen around 9pm ON WEEKENDS. The people really have this "arrogant, uppity" vibe that makes you want to leave ASAP. Yes, architecture is incredible. It's walkable, transportation works, etc. Incredibly expensive. I see no reason why would anyone choose Vienna to Budapest or Prague as their base. Good for 2-3 days trip, nothing else.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌦 Feels 13° 55° 14° 58°AQI 13✈️59min$5,232 / mo🌇 Also went here221 people×Stayed for 2 weeks after almost a year n a half in LatAm. Beautiful city; great food options- especially for Asian food lovers. Plenty of authentic Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese options for about 50% of what you would pay in a Western city. Decent hostels will cost $11-$15 weekdays and between $18-$30 on weekends.... Good internet; beautiful architecture and people but it is true Hungarians can be very cold at times. Overall a good stay with many destinations just a quick and cheap flight/tr
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌤 Feels 15° 59° 15° 58°AQI 9✈️1h$2,519 / mo🌇 Also went here187 people×Nomading here is tough because there are no reasonable Airbnbs and finding a short-term apt is difficult. You have to ask yourself, is it worth coming to Barcelona? It's probably the dirtiest city in Spain, and a bit sketchy. There's more beautiful and cleaner cities like Seville where you can find a reasonably priced Airbnb.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 26✈️1h$5,319 / mo🌇 Also went here247 people×I just wanna give my opinion about Porto for future residents the best areas in Porto is Near Castelo do Queijo, ( Parish nevogilde) Boavista and Foz near beaches if you wanna live with quality of life in Porto.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57°AQI 51✈️2h$3,616 / mo🌇 Also went here205 people×Lisbon is not a fairytale of fine words, try the bureaucratic reality later tell me something, always remember the natives just want your money if you don't have it they are not there for you
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66°AQI 23✈️2h$4,054 / mo🌇 Also went here291 people×I've lived in New York City - Brooklyn - for over 20 years. For visiting tourists, the best neighborhood to stay in is NOT Bushwick. Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Ft. Green or Brooklyn Heights is preferable. Plenty of good transportation in those areas - subway, buses or Uber. Easy access to beaches in Long Island and New Jersey. There's plenty to do in NYC. Great restaurants, Broadway plays (!), and in the summer you frequently can catch a free concert.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌦 Feels 11° 52° 11° 51°AQI 39✈️8h$6,292 / mo🌇 Also went here238 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 12° 54° 12° 54°AQI 29✈️12h$6,322 / mo🌇 Also went here228 people×I agree so much with this review from 11 months ago. "A city right out of a dystopian novel" - that's what I was thinking on the way to the Airport after spending just a week in Bangkok. A city right out of a dystopian novel - soulless and cynical. The air is polluted and no trees are in sight. Its inhabitants manipulative and cold-hearted - hidden behind fake smiles. A Disney Land for senile retirees. Everything is for sale and nothing has value. The streets are filled with rats - both human o
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 41° 106° 33° 92°🥵AQI 70✈️12h$2,103 / mo🌇 Also went here244 people×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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 17° 63° 17° 63°AQI 40✈️12h$5,268 / mo🌇 Also went here193 people×