Homepage⚙️ Settings🌗 Dark mode ❤️ Your favorites🚑 Nomad insurance
| ⭐️ Overall score | 220 reviews |
| 👍 Quality of life score | |
| 👶 Family score | |
| 💵 Cost | |
| 📡 Internet | |
| 😝 Fun | |
| ⛅️ Temperature (now) | |
| 💦 Humidity (now) | |
| 💨 Air quality (now) | |
| 💨 Air quality (annual) | |
| 👌 Safety | |
| 🎓 Education level* | |
| 💰 Income level* | |
| 🙊 English speaking* | |
| 🚶 Walkability | |
| ✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | |
| 🚦 Traffic safety* | |
| 🏥 Hospitals* | |
| 😄 Happiness* | |
| 🍸 Nightlife | |
| 📶 Free WiFi in city | |
| 🖥 Places to work from | |
| ❄️ A/C or heating | |
| 😁 Friendly to foreigners | |
| 🗯 Freedom of speech* | |
| 👩 Female friendly | |
| 🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | |
| 🎅 Startup Score |
| 🌍 Continent | Asia |
| 🚩 Country | Malaysia |
| ⏱ Average trip time | 7 days |
| 📡 Internet speed (avg) | 20 Mbps |
| ⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌥 30°C 87°F + 🥵 Sweaty (78%) = feels 37°C 99°F |
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 35 US AQI 🍃 OK |
| 💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👍 28 US AQI 🍃 OK |
| 🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
| 🚕 Best taxi app* | |
| 🚑 Travel medical insurance |  Safetywing |
| 📱 Best wireless carrier | Hotlink |
| 💸 10 MYR in USD | USD 2.37 |
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | MYR 1,000 = USD 237 |
| 💸 Tipping | No |
| 💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners) |
| 💻 Best coworking space | theNODE |
| 💻 Best alt. coworking space | Regus |
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Santola Coffee |
| 🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place | Promenade Coffee |
| 🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
| ♻️ Return rate | 9% of visitors return |
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 210,000 people |
| 👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita | $9,508 / year |
| 🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed | Yes |
| 👫 Gender ratio (overall) | 👨 51% 👱♀️ 49% |
| 👫 Gender ratio (young adults) | 👨 51% 👱♀️ 49% |
| ⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
| 💻 Online electronics shop | Lazada |
| 🏠 Apartment listings | iBilik |
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Malaysia Airlines |
| 🏥 Best hospital | Damai Specialist Centre |
| 💵 Cost of living for nomad | $774 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $588 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $1,002 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $286 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $207 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $39 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel (median price) | $358 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel (median price) | $17 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (386 listings) | $1,091 / month |
| 🏠 Airbnb | $36 / night |
| 🍛 Dinner | $2 |
| 🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $2 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $1 |
✅ Very cheap to live
✅ Pretty safe
✅ Fast internet
✅ Lots of fun stuff to do
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm all year round
✅ Good air quality on average
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ Very easy to make friends
✅ Very easy to do business
✅ High quality of education
✅ Democratic
✅ People can speak basic English
✅ Not many people smoke tobacco
❌ Very sweaty and humid now
❌ Hospitals are not that great
❌ Roads are very dangerous
❌ Freedom of speech is weak
❌ Not safe for women
❌ Not family friendly
❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Feels | 9937° hot | 9736° hot | 9937° hot | 10440° hot | 10440° hot | 10641° scorching | 10038° hot | 9937° hot | 9937° hot | 9535° hot | 9736° hot | 9736° hot |
| Real | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8831° hot | 8831° hot | 8831° hot | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm |
| Humidity | sweaty 78% | sweaty 76% | sweaty 78% | sweaty 79% | sweaty 77% | sweaty 81% | sweaty 82% | sweaty 80% | sweaty 81% | sweaty 85% | sweaty 87% | sweaty 87% |
| Rain | rainy 51mm | dry 7mm | dry 21mm | rainy 53mm | dry 45mm | rainy 166mm | rainy 85mm | rainy 69mm | rainy 81mm | rainy 133mm | rainy 108mm | rainy 92mm |
| Cloud | cloudy 74% | cloudy 50% | cloudy 51% | cloudy 62% | cloudy 63% | cloudy 89% | cloudy 86% | overcast 90% | cloudy 84% | cloudy 79% | cloudy 72% | cloudy 88% |
| Air quality | clean 29 US AQI | clean 26 US AQI | clean 25 US AQI | clean 25 US AQI | clean 19 US AQI | clean 21 US AQI | clean 26 US AQI | okay 52 US AQI | okay 52 US AQI | clean 31 US AQI | clean 33 US AQI | clean 27 US AQI |
| Sun | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 10 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI |
| Remote workers | 200 people | 333 people | 400 people | 200 people | 200 people | 250 people | 300 people | 333 people | 200 people | 240 people | 400 people | 333 people |
Based on Kota Kinabalu's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
Palawan, officially the Province of Palawan, is a province of the Philippines that is located in the MIMAROPA region. Its capital is the city of Puerto Princesa, but it is governed independently from the province as an urbanized city. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the southwest and it lies between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. The province is named after its largest island, Palawan Island, measuring 450 kilometres long, the province is composed
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 46° 115° 32° 90°🥵AQI 27✈️42min$1,334 / mo8MbpsKuching is a great place to base yourself, it's a vibrant yet quiet little city with access to all sorts of outdoor activities. I stayed at the Borneo Seahare Guesthouse for about 5 months. It is run by a western guy called Ben and his wife Syeda, they really helped me out with everything I needed and gave me a very reasonable rate on a private room. The internet was good and the place had everything I needed including a full kitchen for me to cook. Based right in the city center with loads of s
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 42° 108° 31° 89°🥵AQI 54✈️1h$916 / mo17MbpsIf this place is Hostile towards LGBT, then non of the rich movie stars in Hollywood would even think of visiting this place. When I say rich, I mean Billionaires and Millionaires, that even a fraction of their money can probably buy the whole island itself. Now, they say that this beach is world famous? World famous for what! for bashing LGBTs? This narrow mindedness that's going on around this island is nothing but hypocrisy. Women are allowed to wear pasties and dental floss on the beac
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 70✈️1h$1,240 / mo8MbpsI love Cebu so maybe I may seem biased but here's my perspective as an American who has spent many months, off and on, in Cebu. It is my other home. I have even owned a condo in Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu previously and a car there too. First, it's a big city and like any big city you need to be careful. I don't find Cebu to be unsafe. I've felt just as safe in Cebu as I do in my native Los Angeles (California, USA). Obviously don't do things like flash money or valuables, etc. Use common sense...
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 44° 111° 32° 90°🥵AQI 70✈️1h$964 / mo8MbpsWasn't a huge fan of Mui Ne. Looks like most of the place is catering to Russian midrange tourists. The sand dunes are pretty cool, make sure to visit them, but wear covering clothes in order to not get badly sunburned.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 41° 106° 31° 88°🥵AQI 68✈️1h$820 / mo11MbpsCity was cheap and pretty but there's not that many cafes to work from, plenty of tourists and it was hard to make friends. If you go here make sure to rent a motorbike and check out the nature but there are better places to live at in Vietnam.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 55° 131° 36° 97°🥵AQI 13✈️1h$630 / mo14MbpsNot sure where the last person went in the city for him/her to say that there are zero expats. Throughout my years with Davao, I would bump into at least 20 expats in one night out in just a single area. Davao City is only boring if you don't know where to go, and as someone who lives outside of Davao, I find myself coming back more than five times a year for the people, the culture it has, and how conveniently close it is to beautiful vacation places. You'll love it when you know the gems that
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 46° 115° 31° 87°🥵AQI 70✈️1h$1,127 / mo8MbpsDa Lat is not a great place. I came here for fresh air (after 1 year in Chiang Mai) but unfortunately that is an illusion. They are burning in the mountains and you can see the smoke going up to the sky. And in the city it is not much better, the air is very much polluted there as well. I tried many restaurants but mostly the food is not very good and the service is depressingly bad. Combine that with the rubbish you see everywhere (especially around the center) and Da Lat makes not a happy pl
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°AQI 68✈️1h$994 / mo12MbpsManila is an incredibly welcoming city and cheap to live. Accommodation in ultra luxurious condos is reasonable, foot massage whilst tapping out emails (£7 per hour) makes working from here a no brainer. Agree living in the Greenbelt area is a no brainer. Vegetarian choices can be limited in some places but excellent (and so cheap!) Delivery services are available, including diet chef stuff which is unaffordable anywhere else. The streets feel safe inside Makati and the areas around greenbelt
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 40° 104° 30° 86°🥵AQI 30✈️1h$1,439 / mo8MbpsThey say you get what you pay for. After having traveled the previous 4 months in India, Cambodia, VietNam, Myanmar and Thailand, Singapore was so easy! The subway system is a marvel, streets signs were easy to read, everyone speaks English (that just makes it easy for me as an English speaker) it is safe, clean, and parks are gorgeous. I was there as COVID 19 was breaking out fairly fast and that put a damper on my time but I was so happy to be there anyway and plan to go back. For digital
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 40° 104° 31° 87°🥵AQI 55✈️2h$2,791 / mo93MbpsPutrajaya is the only place I would recommend due to its close proximity to the airport. The Shaftsbury Hotel is modern with two convenience stores, pharmacy, restaurants, dental, and more in the actual building. There is a rain fountain in "mall" of the building that would be Putrajaya's attempt at Singapore's airport one. The location is also literally right across from the bigger mall that has restaurants, international grocery store, movie theater, bowling, electronics, etc. It's a safe a
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 46° 115° 32° 89°🥵AQI 57✈️2h$1,255 / mo17MbpsHonestly, this is an awesome place to be if you're actually trying to get work done. It's a bit of an older vibe than Canggu, and there's certainly a big chunk of yogi's kicking around — but I liked it much better than Canggu and found it less pretentious. Plus, you can drive down there in 45mins whenever you want some beach or party vibes. As others mentioned, there's some great coworking spaces, cheap warungs, some really nice spots to stay cheaply if you go just outside of the mad tourist
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 31° 88° 26° 79°🥵AQI 27✈️2h$1,061 / mo14MbpsKuching is a great place to base yourself, it's a vibrant yet quiet little city with access to all sorts of outdoor activities. I stayed at the Borneo Seahare Guesthouse for about 5 months. It is run by a western guy called Ben and his wife Syeda, they really helped me out with everything I needed and gave me a very reasonable rate on a private room. The internet was good and the place had everything I needed including a full kitchen for me to cook. Based right in the city center with loads of s
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 42° 108° 31° 89°🥵AQI 54✈️1h$916 / mo17MbpsShanghai 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
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 39° 102° 30° 87°🥵AQI 42✈️4h$2,207 / mo2MbpsThe noise pollution here is insane. The prayer calls from the mosques seem to reverberate throughout Penang. Seems like they are competing for who can be the loudest. This really ruined Penang for me and I cut my time short.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 41° 106° 31° 87°🥵AQI 38✈️2h$1,073 / mo20MbpsCons: - Traffic was something else! - Shiddy air quality from half the neighbors burning their trash. - The honking was super stressful, it's so loud even when you're at home or at a restaurant. - Many of the roads are really narrow which would've been fine if it wasn't for the congestion; crazy number of people on the roads. - Beaches = dog crap on your shoes, every time. - Villas get robbed super often, you read about it happening all the time on the Canggu fb page, but also saw it happen in
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 34° 93° 28° 82°🥵AQI 27✈️2h$1,369 / mo22MbpsCheep bear and party place. But only have 3-4 beautiful places to visit. I stayed 5 days and thanks! There are more beautiful places in Asia than Hanoi. I don´t think I come back. Good food and cheap but nothing more..
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 50° 122° 34° 93°🥵AQI 40✈️3h$931 / mo14MbpsTokyo 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
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 45° 113° 32° 89°🥵AQI 35✈️5h$3,890 / mo32MbpsOnly thing to add is that in general Saigon has terrible walkability. I love Saigon, lived there for 3 years. But motorbikes are always parked on the sidewalks so you constantly have to step onto the road which is a little hair raising. And if it's not motorbikes then there are restaurant tables scattered across the pavement. Plus the pavement is almost always cracked. I'm a pretty chill person. But going for a random walk in Saigon always leaves me kind of irritated after a while. Of course the
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 41° 106° 31° 88°🥵AQI 68✈️2h$979 / mo🌇 Also went here21 peopleThey say you get what you pay for. After having traveled the previous 4 months in India, Cambodia, VietNam, Myanmar and Thailand, Singapore was so easy! The subway system is a marvel, streets signs were easy to read, everyone speaks English (that just makes it easy for me as an English speaker) it is safe, clean, and parks are gorgeous. I was there as COVID 19 was breaking out fairly fast and that put a damper on my time but I was so happy to be there anyway and plan to go back. For digital
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 40° 104° 31° 87°🥵AQI 55✈️2h$2,791 / mo🌇 Also went here37 peopleSiem Riep has a nice suburb feeling. At first sight it seems there's not much to do besides Angkor Wat and Pub Street, but you can go swimming, do bicycle tours, floating village day trip... I don't have best social skill, but in Siem Reap it was so easy to make new friends. Locals and tourists! I've worked at Garage Society Coworking Space. Pretty nice place. I don't understand the cons of slow internet. I've bought an LTE 4G Sim card for 10 USD with 10 GB. There's also free and mostly fast
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 44° 111° 32° 90°🥵AQI 42✈️2h$1,033 / mo🌇 Also went here18 peopleHonestly, this is an awesome place to be if you're actually trying to get work done. It's a bit of an older vibe than Canggu, and there's certainly a big chunk of yogi's kicking around — but I liked it much better than Canggu and found it less pretentious. Plus, you can drive down there in 45mins whenever you want some beach or party vibes. As others mentioned, there's some great coworking spaces, cheap warungs, some really nice spots to stay cheaply if you go just outside of the mad tourist
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 31° 88° 26° 79°🥵AQI 27✈️2h$1,061 / mo🌇 Also went here25 peoplePutrajaya is the only place I would recommend due to its close proximity to the airport. The Shaftsbury Hotel is modern with two convenience stores, pharmacy, restaurants, dental, and more in the actual building. There is a rain fountain in "mall" of the building that would be Putrajaya's attempt at Singapore's airport one. The location is also literally right across from the bigger mall that has restaurants, international grocery store, movie theater, bowling, electronics, etc. It's a safe a
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 46° 115° 32° 89°🥵AQI 57✈️2h$1,255 / mo🌇 Also went here36 peopleThe noise pollution here is insane. The prayer calls from the mosques seem to reverberate throughout Penang. Seems like they are competing for who can be the loudest. This really ruined Penang for me and I cut my time short.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 41° 106° 31° 87°🥵AQI 38✈️2h$1,073 / mo🌇 Also went here25 peopleDon't believe the prices on here for an apartment. 686 usd/month refers to an apartment in a high class condo, right in the city centre and seconds away from the BTS(train station). Just remember this, people working at supermarkets make 2 usd/per hour. If you want to live like a local, then you can save a lot of money. If you don't mind a 5-10 minute walk from the BTS, then you can easily get a one bedroom apartment for 300 USD per month, in a high class condo, plus with free golf cart ser
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 38° 100° 31° 88°🥵AQI 55✈️3h$1,345 / mo🌇 Also went here36 peopleCheep bear and party place. But only have 3-4 beautiful places to visit. I stayed 5 days and thanks! There are more beautiful places in Asia than Hanoi. I don´t think I come back. Good food and cheap but nothing more..
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 50° 122° 34° 93°🥵AQI 40✈️3h$931 / mo🌇 Also went here19 peopleChiang Mai used to be N.1 for the digital nomad life. It is still great and you can find really cheap apartments (300-400$) and restaurants (2-3$ for a main). Wouldn't recommend staying there during the burning season. The best area is Nimman, but it's also the most expensive. You can stay in the old city that's very nice but that gets noisy during the weekend for the night markets. Last but not least, very safe city. All in all would go back in a heartbeat.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 39° 102° 30° 85°🥵AQI 50✈️3h$1,039 / mo🌇 Also went here28 peopleTokyo 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
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 45° 113° 32° 89°🥵AQI 35✈️5h$3,890 / mo🌇 Also went here22 peopleBerlin is overall a great city to be. Food is cheap and everywhere, easy to go out and have fun/meet for business. Rent has crept up but still far better value than where I came from. Internet: 36 EUR/month get me 450/40 mbps (cable -> DOCSIS 3.0) Public transport is 2.70 EUR/ticket. No woman I know has said they felt unsafe. Some really odd, xenophobic sounding comments on here. Biggest downsides IMO: service quality at restaurants - not that people are rude, but they don't seem to particular
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 21° 70° 20° 67°AQI 22✈️14h$3,117 / mo🌇 Also went here18 peopleParis is wonderful, and I love it here, but the stereotypes some real truth to them. I stepped off the plane to a protest, my airbnb host was incredibly stylish yet didn't wear deoderant, and I met the rudest waiter I've ever encountered in my entire life on day 3 (though most Parisians are super nice!)
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°AQI 31✈️15h$4,059 / mo🌇 Also went here18 peopleEven if the city is kind of on the decline, it still is awesome. Perfect weather all year, amazing food, vibrant local & expat community.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 28° 82° 26° 79°AQI 25✈️15h$3,403 / mo🌇 Also went here24 peopleI'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.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 25° 77° 25° 77°AQI 106😷✈️20h$5,115 / mo🌇 Also went here17 people
