⭐️ Total score | 2.43/5 (Rank #342) |
👍 Quality of life score | Okay |
👶 Family score | Okay |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $1,979 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🤬 Unusably slow: 5Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Bad |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🌞 Perfect: 25°C76°F (feels 25°C77°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 😊 Comfy: 73% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 🌱 Good: 59 US AQI |
💨 Air quality (annual) | 😷 Unhealthy for some: 106 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 | 😤 Dense: 17k ppl/km² (1 per 8x8m) |
🚶 Walkability | Great |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Okay |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Bad |
🏥 Hospitals | Great |
😄 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 | Okay |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Bad |
🎅 Startup Score | Bad |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | China |
🗓️ Average trip length | 11 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 5 Mbps ⚠️ Internet in Shenzhen is fast averaging 40 Mbps but the Great Firewall slows down speeds to foreign websites by 8x to ~5 Mbps. |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌥 25°C 76°F + 😊 Comfy (73%) = feels 25°C 77°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 59 US AQI 🍃 OK |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎☠️ 106 US AQI = 🚬 / day |
🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood | Luohu |
🚕 Best taxi app* | Didi |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | Safetywing |
💸 10 CNY in USD | USD 1.38 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | CNY 1,000 = USD 138 |
💸 Tipping | No |
💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners because WeChat is very hard to set up) |
💻 Best coworking space | Archiposition |
🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
♻️ Return rate | 👍16% of visitors return |
📸 Visitors per year | 12,962,000 visitors |
📸 Tourists now | 248,416 tourists |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 13,000,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $8,126 / year |
😤 Population density | 😤 crowded: 8x8m (64m²) per person |
👫 Gender ratio (population) | 👨 48% 👱♀️ 52% |
👫 Gender ratio (young adults) | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% |
👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 89% 👱♀️ 11% |
⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Hong Kong Airlines |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Emirates |
🏥 Best hospital | University of HK-Shenzhen |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $1,979 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,268 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $3,075 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $879 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $1,037 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $1,761 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $640 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $49 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $58 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $306 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $4 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $2 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $4 |
👩🏫 International school | $25,898 / year |
📱 Mobile data (~10GB) | $4 / month |
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi) | $1 / trip |
✅ Affordable to live
✅ Very safe
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm all year round
✅ Good air quality today
✅ Many Nomad List members have been
✅ Easy to do business
✅ Great hospitals
✅ Safe for women
❌ No freedom of speech
❌ No democracy
❌ Pretty slow internet
❌ Not much to do
❌ Too hot in the summer
❌ Feels crowded
❌ 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 | 6820° mild | 7021° mild | 7323° mild | 8228° warm | 10641° scorching | 10239° hot | 11144° scorching | 10440° hot | 11144° scorching | 8429° warm | 7725° warm | 7021° mild |
Real | 6720° mild | 7021° mild | 7323° mild | 7826° warm | 8831° hot | 8630° very warm | 9032° hot | 8731° hot | 9032° hot | 8027° warm | 7725° warm | 6921° mild |
Humidity | nice 56% | nice 72% | nice 80% | nice 80% | sweaty 83% | sweaty 85% | sweaty 81% | sweaty 84% | sweaty 80% | sweaty 72% | nice 69% | nice 63% |
Most common | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear |
Rain | dry 1mm | rainy 54mm | dry 10mm | dry 48mm | rainy 79mm | rainy 287mm | rainy 141mm | rainy 226mm | rainy 76mm | dry 33mm | dry 3mm | dry 38mm |
Cloud | pockets 21% | pockets 16% | pockets 34% | pockets 40% | pockets 44% | cloudy 58% | pockets 47% | cloudy 58% | pockets 34% | pockets 45% | pockets 32% | pockets 30% |
Air quality | bad 129 US AQI | bad 106 US AQI | bad 112 US AQI | bad 104 US AQI | okay 90 US AQI | okay 67 US AQI | okay 64 US AQI | okay 77 US AQI | bad 106 US AQI | bad 110 US AQI | bad 129 US AQI | bad 132 US AQI |
Sun | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI |
Remote workers | 420 people | 380 people | 360 people | 400 people | 400 people | 444 people | 360 people | 467 people | 444 people | 500 people | 450 people | 486 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Shenzhen's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
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👍 Liked great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°🚕1h$2,972 / mo77Mbps×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👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 29° 84° 27° 80°AQI 70😷🚕3h$1,562 / mo4Mbps×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👍 Liked great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°🚕1h$2,972 / mo77Mbps×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👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 29° 84° 27° 80°AQI 70😷🚕3h$1,562 / 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👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 15° 59° 15° 58°AQI 97😷✈️2h$1,851 / mo5Mbps×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 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 56°AQI 34✈️3h$2,642 / mo85Mbps×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👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 38° 100° 31° 87°🥵✈️3h$4,483 / mo50Mbps×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 😡 Slow👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 31° 88° 28° 83°AQI 50✈️5h$1,917 / mo54Mbps×A dystopian cyberpunk metropolis, a veritable Night City, both chaotic and well run, livable yet poisonous. Follow the classic advice: stay near the BTS, skyscraper condo, work from mall libraries, cafes, and commons, don’t be outside. Outsource your chores. On a western salary or with savings, you’ll be playing life on easy mode. Focus your energy on meeting people, honing your body, and learning new skills. There’s a reason it’s number 1. You can disagree, but try to find it.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 39° 102° 34° 94°🥵AQI 71😷✈️2h$1,346 / mo86Mbps×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👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 17° 63° 16° 60°AQI 169😷✈️3h$2,488 / mo5Mbps×I love Taipei, extremely underrated place—not sure why, though I'm fine with that. The cleanliness, amenities, and kindness of the people will remind you of Tokyo.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 22° 72° 22° 71°AQI 68😷✈️1h$2,156 / mo62Mbps×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👍 Liked bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 17° 63° 16° 60°AQI 42✈️16h$5,022 / mo120Mbps×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👍 Liked great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°🚕1h$2,972 / mo🌇 Also went here92 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👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 15° 59° 15° 58°AQI 97😷✈️2h$1,851 / mo🌇 Also went here51 people×Saigon has things going for it—great food, beautiful French architecture, interesting history, steady development, and nice enough people. But overall, the vibes are mediocre. Again, the locals are nice enough, though, as a Westerner, you're not going to feel as welcomed as you are in surrounding countries (I don't mean to sound entitled, that's an honest assessment). You just sort of exist; people stare at you and will be amused by you, but don't expect the celebrity treatment you get in othe
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 44° 111° 36° 97°🥵AQI 8✈️2h$1,061 / mo🌇 Also went here44 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 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 34° 93° 35° 96°🥵AQI 176😷✈️2h$964 / mo🌇 Also went here53 people×A dystopian cyberpunk metropolis, a veritable Night City, both chaotic and well run, livable yet poisonous. Follow the classic advice: stay near the BTS, skyscraper condo, work from mall libraries, cafes, and commons, don’t be outside. Outsource your chores. On a western salary or with savings, you’ll be playing life on easy mode. Focus your energy on meeting people, honing your body, and learning new skills. There’s a reason it’s number 1. You can disagree, but try to find it.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 39° 102° 34° 94°🥵AQI 71😷✈️2h$1,346 / mo🌇 Also went here79 people×It's getting better. I came here just before the Chinese New Year, and the city was very lively. Lots of people, live music, etc. The decorations in the shopping mall were beautiful, and there were so many food options that it would take a year to try them all.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 38° 100° 31° 88°🥵AQI 72😷✈️3h$1,224 / mo🌇 Also went here57 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👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 38° 100° 31° 87°🥵✈️3h$4,483 / mo🌇 Also went here63 people×2nd time to Tokyo in 2 years. So much to see and do and great value in the past few years due to a declining yen against the USD & Euro. Wework (not open past 6pm & only iceberg open on weekends), Airalo Esim, and Wise Visa are your friend. Check out my Youtube for some nomad guides (Chicvoyage, @digitalnomadworld). I like Roppongi area. Stay in a hotel
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 12° 54° 13° 56°AQI 30✈️4h$2,922 / mo🌇 Also went here56 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 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 15° 59° 15° 59°AQI 50✈️12h$3,741 / mo🌇 Also went here52 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 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 9° 48° 10° 51°AQI 38✈️12h$6,231 / mo🌇 Also went here55 people×I don't understand why London has so high safety rating. Your phone could be stolen and your bicycle WILL be stolen here (or a part of it). I live here 8.5 years and I experienced the above multiple times. Police seems only cares about crime against person by whatever reason. Insure everything expensive that you own. I would also add that antisocial behaviour is quite common here and teenagers are heavily involved in crimes as police don't do anything with them because of their age. Basically th
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 9° 48° 10° 49°AQI 65😷✈️13h$5,409 / mo🌇 Also went here60 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👍 Liked good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 11° 52° 12° 53°AQI 29✈️13h$5,022 / mo🌇 Also went here61 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 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 13° 55° 14° 58°AQI 32✈️13h$5,078 / mo🌇 Also went here53 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👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 17° 63° 17° 62°AQI 36✈️15h$3,490 / mo🌇 Also went here50 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👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57°✈️17h$6,505 / mo🌇 Also went here58 people×Can't login? See the FAQ
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