⭐️ Total score | 3.13/5 (Rank #554) |
👍 Quality of life score | Okay |
👶 Family score | Bad |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $1,529 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🤬 Unusably slow: 0.00Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Bad |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🌞 Nice: 20°C68°F (feels 20°C68°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 😊 Comfy: 96% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 🌱 Great: 46 US AQI |
💨 Air quality (annual) | 🌱 Good: 71 US AQI |
👌 Safety | Great |
👮♀️ Lack of crime* | Great |
🤝 Lack of racism* | Bad |
🎓 Education level* | Mediocre |
💰 Income level* | Very low: $677 / mo |
🙊 English speaking* | Bad |
🚶 Walkability | Great |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Okay |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Bad |
🏥 Hospitals | Good |
😄 Happiness* | Okay |
🍸 Nightlife | Bad |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Bad |
🖥 Places to work from | Bad |
❄️ A/C or heating | Bad |
😁 Friendly to foreigners | Okay |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | |
👩 Female friendly | Okay |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Bad |
🎅 Startup Score | Bad |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | China |
⏱ Average trip length | 7 days |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌧 20°C 68°F + 😊 Comfy (96%) = feels 20°C 68°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 46 US AQI 🍃 OK |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎😷 71 US AQI |
🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
🚕 Best taxi app* | |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | ![]() |
📱 Best wireless carrier | China Mobile |
💸 10 CNY in USD | USD 1.49 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | CNY 1,000 = USD 149 |
💸 Tipping | No |
💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners because WeChat is very hard to set up) |
☕️ Best coffee place | Starbucks |
🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
♻️ Return rate | 👍11% of visitors return |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 3,000,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $8,126 / year |
👫 Gender ratio (overall) | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% |
👫 Gender ratio (young adults) | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% |
⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
🏠 Apartment listings | Ganji |
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Hainan |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | China Southern Airlines |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $1,529 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,081 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $2,723 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $778 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $478 / month |
🏢 Coworking | $75 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $867 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $41 / night |
🏡 Airbnb (median from 328 listings) | $1,472 / month |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $48 / night |
🍛 Dinner | $3 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $3 |
☕️ Coffee | $4 |
✅ Affordable to live
✅ Very safe
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm in the spring
✅ Good air quality on average
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ Easy to do business
✅ Good hospitals
✅ Safe for women
❌ No freedom of speech
❌ Unusably slow internet
❌ Not much to do
❌ Gets cold in the winter
❌ Difficult to make friends
❌ Quality of education is low
❌ Roads can be dangerous
❌ 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 | 5412° cool | 6317° cool | 7021° mild | 7323° mild | 7524° warm | 7323° mild | 7222° mild | 7021° mild | 7021° mild | 6418° cool | 5714° cool | 5513° cool |
Real | 5412° cool | 6116° cool | 7021° mild | 7323° mild | 7524° warm | 7323° mild | 7222° mild | 7021° mild | 7021° mild | 6317° cool | 5714° cool | 5513° cool |
Humidity | nice 70% | nice 58% | nice 35% | nice 43% | nice 55% | nice 84% | nice 89% | nice 93% | nice 84% | damp 87% | damp 78% | damp 72% |
Rain | dry 11mm | dry 18mm | dry 1mm | rainy 51mm | rainy 51mm | rainy 167mm | rainy 247mm | rainy 200mm | rainy 92mm | rainy 86mm | dry 32mm | dry 18mm |
Cloud | pockets 34% | pockets 25% | pockets 23% | pockets 40% | cloudy 60% | overcast 91% | overcast 91% | overcast 97% | cloudy 67% | cloudy 76% | cloudy 65% | cloudy 54% |
Air quality | okay 77 US AQI | bad 100 US AQI | bad 117 US AQI | bad 105 US AQI | okay 86 US AQI | okay 62 US AQI | okay 63 US AQI | okay 75 US AQI | okay 67 US AQI | okay 65 US AQI | okay 81 US AQI | okay 78 US AQI |
Sun | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 11 UVI | avoid sun 10 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI |
Remote workers | 200 people | 200 people | 200 people | 300 people | 267 people | 200 people | 267 people | 350 people | 200 people | 200 people | 200 people | 240 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Kunming's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
I do not like Hanoi. I would not recommend it. I would rather go to Mexico city (cleaner and easier to get around). The driving situation is bizarre and scary. Gab app only works with cash, and honestly, most things only work with cash. The streets are dirty and disorganized. People barely speak English here (I found more english speakers in Da Nang, Vietnam). I tried to stay in Truc Bach and it was so dirty and loud that i left to West lake (which is supposed to be one of the nice area). It is
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 46° 115° 32° 90°🥵AQI 57✈️44min$951 / mo5Mbps×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 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 43° 109° 31° 87°🥵AQI 82😷✈️51min$2,087 / mo1Mbps×I lived and worked (at a law firm) in Chengdu for about 3 months. I absolutely loved the city! It's so different from east coast China, especially given the Tibetan influences in many areas. I had a company arrange my apartment and registrations, but was a seamless process. I am a white, American male who speaks a decent bit of Mandarin, and I found the locals to be incredibly hospitable. China is general is extremely affordable for a Westerner, and Chengdu offers the luxuries of any large, West
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 41° 106° 31° 88°🥵AQI 78😷✈️51min$1,002 / mo×Don't go thinking it's another Chiang Mai, because it doesn`t. Instead, Chiang Rai is much smaller and simple, not so much to see and do --forget about nighlife, just relax and get the work done. Food is amazing and you can have as much khao soi you can eat. Finding a condo with pool and gym is possible, but there are not much options available. Better book something in the middle of nature -- rent a motorbike.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 30° 86° 26° 79°🥵AQI 25✈️51min$953 / mo29Mbps×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 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 30° 86° 26° 79°🥵AQI 42✈️3h$1,858 / mo1Mbps×I cannot help but agree with the review from the person before me. I'm finishing my 3 weeks trip here, and something feels off. Like that person put it rightly, everything is for sale, and nothing has value. There is no soul to this city and its people, locals or otherwise. Something is wrong here.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 45° 113° 32° 89°🥵AQI 53✈️2h$1,262 / mo26Mbps×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 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 32✈️2h$2,401 / mo87Mbps×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 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°AQI 35✈️17h$5,771 / mo34Mbps×Definitely check out The Key (on near Zhong Xiao Dun Hua station) if living here for more than a month. Cafe + Gym + Bar all in one, monthly membership about $50 USD. English-friendly, no contracts. Made my 3 month stay here immensely better with fast wifi in the cafe and it's a great feeling to be able to work out immediately after working.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety very badTap to open🌥 Feels 44° 111° 32° 90°🥵AQI 24✈️3h$2,081 / mo24Mbps×The 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.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 83°🥵AQI 27✈️3h$1,033 / mo13Mbps×I lived and worked (at a law firm) in Chengdu for about 3 months. I absolutely loved the city! It's so different from east coast China, especially given the Tibetan influences in many areas. I had a company arrange my apartment and registrations, but was a seamless process. I am a white, American male who speaks a decent bit of Mandarin, and I found the locals to be incredibly hospitable. China is general is extremely affordable for a Westerner, and Chengdu offers the luxuries of any large, West
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 41° 106° 31° 88°🥵AQI 78😷✈️51min$1,002 / mo×I do not like Hanoi. I would not recommend it. I would rather go to Mexico city (cleaner and easier to get around). The driving situation is bizarre and scary. Gab app only works with cash, and honestly, most things only work with cash. The streets are dirty and disorganized. People barely speak English here (I found more english speakers in Da Nang, Vietnam). I tried to stay in Truc Bach and it was so dirty and loud that i left to West lake (which is supposed to be one of the nice area). It is
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 46° 115° 32° 90°🥵AQI 57✈️44min$951 / mo5Mbps×I do not like Hanoi. I would not recommend it. I would rather go to Mexico city (cleaner and easier to get around). The driving situation is bizarre and scary. Gab app only works with cash, and honestly, most things only work with cash. The streets are dirty and disorganized. People barely speak English here (I found more english speakers in Da Nang, Vietnam). I tried to stay in Truc Bach and it was so dirty and loud that i left to West lake (which is supposed to be one of the nice area). It is
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 46° 115° 32° 90°🥵AQI 57✈️44min$951 / mo🌇 Also went here21 people×Chiang Mai used to be N.1 for the digital nomad life. It is still great and you can find really cheap apartments (300-400$) 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.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 37° 99° 30° 86°🥵AQI 38✈️1h$943 / mo🌇 Also went here23 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 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 32✈️2h$2,401 / mo🌇 Also went here27 people×I cannot help but agree with the review from the person before me. I'm finishing my 3 weeks trip here, and something feels off. Like that person put it rightly, everything is for sale, and nothing has value. There is no soul to this city and its people, locals or otherwise. Something is wrong here.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 45° 113° 32° 89°🥵AQI 53✈️2h$1,262 / mo🌇 Also went here28 people×Been living here for more than 3 years. Overall I do not recommend it. Its not terrible but overall theres better options in asia. The city is constantly busy, noisy and polluted (air and landscapes). You can hardly go out for breeze of fresh air or to relax and ease your mind. There is not much nature, beach or mountains for you to escape. Traveling is very restriced because people go crazy due to covid. During the lockdown you couldnt even leave your appartment for a walk outside. They trapp
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 43° 109° 31° 87°🥵AQI 57✈️2h$976 / mo🌇 Also went here23 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 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 30° 86° 26° 79°🥵AQI 42✈️3h$1,858 / mo🌇 Also went here26 people×Definitely an underrated place for nomads - Huge city with a small town feel. Lots of different neighborhoods to appeal to different types of people: some commercial, some hipstery, some historical, some modern. Food and rent is cheap (and the food is damn good). People are very friendly as compared to other big Asian cities. You can also get easy work as a tutor and make good extra cash. I survived for five months tutoring and doing other English related work for max 12 hrs a week (leaving me
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 37° 99° 35° 95°🥵AQI 42✈️3h$2,581 / mo🌇 Also went here19 people×Putrajaya 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
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 30° 86° 26° 79°🥵AQI 38✈️3h$1,294 / mo🌇 Also went here22 people×Like everywhere, Singapore has pros and cons. // Pros: // Everything works very well, it's clean, you can use the trains and transport system with a bank card, Grab taxis are efficient and safe, the airport is amazing // Everyone speaks English // Population seems well educated and cosmopolitan // There are lots of parks and green spaces. // Cons: // It's very expensive. For what you get it feels overpriced compared to most Western countries for example. // It's hot and very, very humid. Unti
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 84°🥵AQI 17✈️4h$3,769 / mo🌇 Also went here28 people×I've been living for a year in Itaewon-dong, Seoul back in 2015 when i was 22 years old. It was one of the best year of my life, i made lifelong friends overthere. Great culture, great food, great people. The cons : no beach, ultra-capitalist environment, big city life downside (transportation, prices etc...)
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌫 Feels 24° 75° 24° 75°AQI 104😷✈️4h$2,108 / mo🌇 Also went here21 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 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 40° 104° 31° 87°🥵AQI 30✈️5h$2,910 / mo🌇 Also went here19 people×A great place to be. Excellent price/quality ratio. You can easily find everything needed to work: coworking, sim (you can eg use Airalo). There is a plenty of things to do in the city and around it. Food is dirt cheap and delicious. It can be trashy and sometimes touristy but that didn't cause problems for me.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 25° 77° 25° 78°AQI 3✈️9h$1,204 / mo🌇 Also went here21 people×Best city in Spain. Weather is great even in December and the clubbing scene is fun. There's lots to do and it's a beautiful city overall. You have to watch out for pickpockets but as long as you aren't leaving things unattended or obviously in your pockets you'll be fine. If you're into hostels, Hostel One Paralelo is BY FAR the best hostel in the area, worth every penny. Will definitely be back, and I never say that.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 30° 86° 28° 83°AQI 50✈️12h$3,596 / mo🌇 Also went here19 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 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 17° 63°AQI 46✈️15h$6,986 / mo🌇 Also went here21 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 🤬 Unusably slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°AQI 35✈️17h$5,771 / mo🌇 Also went here26 people×