⭐️ Total score | 2.85/5 (Rank #424) |
👍 Quality of life score | Good |
👶 Family score | Okay |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 🧐 Pricey: $3,001 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🏎 Fast: 64Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Great |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🥶 Too cold: 11°C52°F (feels 11°C52°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 😊 Comfy: 52% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 🌱 Good: 61 US AQI |
💨 Air quality (annual) | 🌱 Great: 43 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 | Bad |
💰 Income level* | Very high: $3,220 / mo |
🙊 English speaking* | Bad |
🚶 Walkability | Great |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Good |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Okay |
🏥 Hospitals | Great |
😄 Happiness* | Okay |
🍸 Nightlife | Good |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Bad |
🖥 Places to work from | Great |
❄️ A/C or heating | Great |
😁 Friendly to foreigners | Bad |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | Good |
👩 Female friendly | Good |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Okay |
🎅 Startup Score | Bad |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | Japan |
⏱ Average trip length | 5 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 64 Mbps |
⛅️ Weather (now) | ☀️ 11°C 52°F + 😊 Comfy (52%) = feels 11°C 52°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 61 US AQI 🍃 OK |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👍 43 US AQI |
🔌 Power | 115V60Hz |
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay | Kyoto Station |
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood | Higashiyama South |
🚕 Best taxi app* | |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | ![]() |
💸 1,000 JPY in USD | USD 6.79 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | JPY 10,000 = USD 68 |
💸 Tipping | No |
💳 Cashless | 💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere |
☕️ Best coffee place | Ogawa Coffee |
🚰 Tap water | 👌 Yes, safe to drink |
♻️ Return rate | 👍10% of visitors return |
📸 Visitors per year | 3,029,600 visitors |
📸 Tourists now | 58,062 tourists |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 1,500,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $38,640 / year |
👫 Gender ratio (population) | 👨 45% 👱♀️ 55% |
👫 Gender ratio (young adults) | 👨 55% 👱♀️ 45% |
👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 85% 👱♀️ 15% |
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed | Yes |
⛪️ Religious government | Ambiguous |
💻 Online electronics shop | Amazon |
🏠 Apartment listings | Airbnb |
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | All Nippon Airlines |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Japan Airlines |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $3,001 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,800 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $2,624 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $750 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $1,840 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $4,054 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $481 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $86 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $133 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $415 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $5 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $3 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $3 |
👩🏫 International school | $9,172 / year |
📱 Mobile data (~10GB) | $10 / month |
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi) | $8 / trip |
✅ Very safe
✅ Fast internet
✅ Lots of fun stuff to do
✅ Warm in the spring
✅ 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 very safe
✅ Freedom of speech
✅ Democratic
✅ Very safe for women
✅ Family friendly
✅ LGBTQ+ friendly
❌ Too expensive
❌ Cold now
❌ Gets cold in the winter
❌ Very difficult to make friends
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ Many people smoke tobacco
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Feels | 457° cold | 5010° cold | 5915° cool | 6619° mild | 7222° mild | 8630° warm | 10239° hot | 10239° hot | 8831° hot | 7725° warm | 6418° cool | 5211° cool |
Real | 468° cold | 5010° cold | 5915° cool | 6418° cool | 7222° mild | 8127° warm | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8127° warm | 7725° warm | 6317° cool | 5211° cool |
Humidity | nice 65% | nice 61% | nice 64% | nice 61% | nice 75% | sweaty 77% | sweaty 86% | sweaty 85% | sweaty 81% | nice 72% | nice 65% | nice 67% |
Most common | ||||||||||||
Rain | rainy 73mm | rainy 76mm | rainy 141mm | rainy 189mm | rainy 240mm | rainy 186mm | rainy 256mm | rainy 321mm | rainy 148mm | rainy 58mm | rainy 67mm | rainy 111mm |
Cloud | cloudy 57% | cloudy 55% | cloudy 70% | cloudy 62% | overcast 91% | cloudy 84% | cloudy 77% | cloudy 86% | cloudy 86% | cloudy 52% | cloudy 50% | cloudy 54% |
Air quality | clean 44 US AQI | okay 51 US AQI | okay 52 US AQI | okay 52 US AQI | okay 50 US AQI | clean 43 US AQI | clean 46 US AQI | clean 39 US AQI | clean 36 US AQI | clean 33 US AQI | clean 42 US AQI | clean 41 US AQI |
Sun | seek shade 3 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 5 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 3 UVI | safe 2 UVI |
Remote workers | 836 people | 560 people | 1,418 people | 1,283 people | 964 people | 1,267 people | 800 people | 655 people | 982 people | 1,027 people | 1,092 people | 1,022 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Kyoto's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 11° 52° 12° 53°AQI 61😷🚕2h$2,453 / mo27Mbps×Lived in Kobe for 4 years now as a foreigner. Fantastic city, clean, very safe, lots to do and see, you have the mountains, the city and the sea so it’s perfect setting. Close to osaka, and only an hour from Kyoto. Lived here with young kids and there are some open spaces and fun family things to do with children. It’s all round a really great place to live.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open☀️ Feels 10° 50° 11° 52°AQI 53😷🚕2h$2,433 / mo33Mbps×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 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open☀️ Feels 17° 63° 17° 62°AQI 20✈️29min$3,029 / mo69Mbps×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 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open☀️ Feels 11° 52° 11° 52°AQI 53😷✈️41min$2,791 / mo33Mbps×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 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open☀️ Feels 17° 63° 17° 62°AQI 20✈️29min$3,029 / mo69Mbps×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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 11° 52° 12° 53°AQI 61😷🚕2h$2,453 / mo27Mbps×In terms of value for money for a city, I would say Kuala Lumpur is the best in all of Asia, high-quality apartments at a good price, high-quality restaurants, has a car scene if you are a car guy. I found it quite safe. For me, the weather was like 4 seasons in one day almost every day. Rains a lot, a lot of storms and also very hot and humid. Dating was ok not bad like Western countries but not the best. I found the city quite boring itself, not a lot to see inside of the city. If you are
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 83°🥵AQI 44✈️7h$1,279 / mo79Mbps×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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 35° 95° 31° 89°🥵AQI 65😷✈️6h$1,415 / mo82Mbps×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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 8° 46° 9° 49°AQI 42✈️1h$2,302 / mo88Mbps×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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 19° 66° 19° 66°AQI 46✈️2h$2,206 / mo77Mbps×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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 83°🥵AQI 30✈️7h$4,031 / mo51Mbps×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 13° 55° 13° 56°AQI 26✈️11h$5,653 / mo102Mbps×Was here in Mid-2023. Bali has completely changed from when I last visited in 2017. Full of arrogant influences and degenerate party people who are entitled and have no respect for the locals. Many Uber drivers told me they are starting to get annoyed because a lot of Westerners don’t respect anything…. Pollution and traffic are on the rise. It is turning into Kuta. Probably one of the least walkable places, forget walking on the sidewalk unless you want to get taken out. A lot of accidents
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 31° 88° 28° 83°AQI 123😷✈️7h$1,971 / mo56Mbps×I love BA! And I wanted to say that you can use Visa card and get the "blue" dollar rate, that's been happening for one year now. Also you can withdraw and change money in WU at a good rate. You won't have a problem with paying by card in most of the places.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 35° 95° 28° 82°🥵AQI 14✈️25h$1,691 / mo67Mbps×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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 11° 52° 12° 53°AQI 61😷🚕2h$2,453 / mo🌇 Also went here386 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 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open☀️ Feels 17° 63° 17° 62°AQI 20✈️29min$3,029 / mo🌇 Also went here581 people×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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 8° 46° 9° 49°AQI 42✈️1h$2,302 / mo🌇 Also went here280 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°AQI 55😷✈️5h$1,023 / mo🌇 Also went here294 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 35° 95° 31° 89°🥵AQI 65😷✈️6h$1,415 / mo🌇 Also went here378 people×In terms of value for money for a city, I would say Kuala Lumpur is the best in all of Asia, high-quality apartments at a good price, high-quality restaurants, has a car scene if you are a car guy. I found it quite safe. For me, the weather was like 4 seasons in one day almost every day. Rains a lot, a lot of storms and also very hot and humid. Dating was ok not bad like Western countries but not the best. I found the city quite boring itself, not a lot to see inside of the city. If you are
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 83°🥵AQI 44✈️7h$1,279 / mo🌇 Also went here272 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 83°🥵AQI 30✈️7h$4,031 / mo🌇 Also went here308 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels -2° 28° 0° 32°AQI 70😷✈️12h$3,869 / mo🌇 Also went here280 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 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 43✈️12h$5,343 / mo🌇 Also went here227 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 1° 34° 4° 39°AQI 54😷✈️12h$5,553 / mo🌇 Also went here298 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 5° 41° 7° 45°AQI 57😷✈️13h$5,976 / mo🌇 Also went here331 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 4° 39° 6° 44°AQI 31✈️13h$5,002 / mo🌇 Also went here272 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 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 13° 55° 14° 57°AQI 42✈️14h$3,730 / mo🌇 Also went here293 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 65°AQI 2✈️15h$3,267 / mo🌇 Also went here270 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 🚀 Super fast😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 11° 52° 11° 52°AQI 21✈️15h$7,576 / mo🌇 Also went here292 people×