⭐️ Total score | 2.78/5 (Rank #121) |
❤️ Liked by members | 👍53% liked it 👎47% disliked it |
👍 Quality of life score | Good |
👶 Family score | Okay |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $1,846 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🤬 Unusably slow: 4Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Great |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🌞 Perfect: 22°C72°F (feels 22°C72°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 😊 Comfy: 41% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 🌱 Good: 63 US AQI |
💨 Air quality (annual) | 😐 Moderate: 87 US AQI |
👌 Safety | Great |
🤮 Food safety* | Good |
👮♀️ Lack of crime* | Great |
🤝 Lack of racism* | Good |
🎓 Education level* | Mediocre |
⚡️ Power grid | Great |
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change | Good |
💰 Income level* | Very low: $677 / mo |
🙊 English speaking* | Bad |
😤 People density | 🤨 Busy: 13k ppl/km² (1 per 9x9m) |
🚶 Walkability | Great |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Okay |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Bad |
🏥 Hospitals | Great |
😄 Happiness* | Okay |
🍸 Nightlife | Great |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Good |
🖥 Places to work from | Great |
❄️ A/C or heating | Good |
😁 Friendly to foreigners | Great |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | Bad |
👩 Female friendly | Great |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Bad |
🎅 Startup Score | Okay |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | China |
🗓️ Average trip length | 10 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 4 Mbps ⚠️ Internet in Shanghai is fast averaging 32 Mbps but the Great Firewall slows down speeds to foreign websites by 8x to ~4 Mbps. |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌥 22°C 72°F + 😊 Comfy (41%) = feels 22°C 72°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 63 US AQI 🍃 OK |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎😷 87 US AQI = 🚬 / day |
🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay | French Concession |
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood | Yangpu |
🚕 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 | Sandbox3 (free) |
💻 Best alt. coworking space | Agora Space |
☕️ Best coffee place | See + Saw |
☕️ Best alt. coffee place | Baker & Spice |
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place | Cafe 85ºC |
🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
♻️ Return rate | 👍12% of visitors return |
📸 Visitors per year | 7,201,200 visitors |
📸 Tourists now | 138,011 tourists |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 24,000,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $8,126 / year |
😤 Population density | 🤨 busy: 9x9m (81m²) per person |
👫 Gender ratio (population) | 👨 53% 👱♀️ 47% |
👫 Gender ratio (young adults) | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% |
👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 81% 👱♀️ 19% |
⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
🏠 Apartment listings | Smart Shanghai |
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Spring |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Air China |
🏥 Best hospital | ParkWay Health China |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $1,846 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,262 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $3,655 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $1,044 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $999 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $943 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $805 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $47 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $31 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $215 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $6 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $3 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $4 |
👩🏫 International school | $23,737 / year |
📱 Mobile data (~10GB) | $3 / month |
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi) | $2 / trip |
✅ Affordable to live
✅ Very safe
✅ Lots of fun stuff to do
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm in the spring
✅ Perfect humidity now
✅ Good air quality today
✅ Many Nomad List members have been
✅ Easy to do business
✅ Great hospitals
✅ Very safe for women
✅ Family friendly
❌ No freedom of speech
❌ No democracy
❌ Very slow internet
❌ Gets cold in the winter
❌ Nomad List members didn't like going here
❌ Not many Nomad List members right now
❌ Feels crowded
❌ Difficult to make friends
❌ Quality of education is low
❌ Roads can be dangerous
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+
❌ People smoking tobacco a lot
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Feels | 457° cold | 415° cold | 5714° cool | 6418° cool | 7323° mild | 8429° warm | 9032° hot | 9032° hot | 8228° warm | 7021° mild | 6418° cool | 457° cold |
Real | 479° cold | 447° cold | 5714° cool | 6418° cool | 7323° mild | 8329° very warm | 8831° hot | 8831° hot | 8329° very warm | 7021° mild | 6317° cool | 468° cold |
Humidity | nice 31% | nice 34% | nice 37% | nice 34% | nice 38% | nice 45% | nice 44% | nice 46% | nice 42% | nice 37% | nice 31% | too dry 28% |
Most common | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear |
Rain | dry 7mm | dry 45mm | rainy 87mm | rainy 67mm | rainy 134mm | rainy 150mm | rainy 161mm | rainy 167mm | rainy 118mm | rainy 71mm | rainy 66mm | dry 3mm |
Cloud | pockets 41% | pockets 49% | pockets 49% | pockets 49% | cloudy 54% | cloudy 58% | cloudy 58% | pockets 45% | pockets 45% | pockets 38% | pockets 36% | pockets 21% |
Air quality | bad 118 US AQI | bad 116 US AQI | bad 128 US AQI | bad 119 US AQI | bad 105 US AQI | okay 91 US AQI | okay 83 US AQI | okay 71 US AQI | okay 77 US AQI | okay 85 US AQI | okay 92 US AQI | bad 112 US AQI |
Sun | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | seek shade 5 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | seek shade 3 UVI |
Remote workers | 843 people | 450 people | 707 people | 877 people | 682 people | 520 people | 612 people | 700 people | 787 people | 750 people | 800 people | 1,017 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Shanghai's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
As an expat in Ningbo the past two years, these scores aren’t really accurate in my opinion. I can’t imagine thinking Ningbo wasn’t one of the most peaceful places or that it was unfit for children. Maybe a bit boring at times, but there’s a whole bar strip called “Laowaitan” which literally means Foreigner town full of bars and live music. Not sure who scored this city or what experience they might have had.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70°AQI 97😷✈️12min$1,778 / 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 25° 77° 25° 78°✈️2h$3,000 / mo84Mbps×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 24° 75° 24° 76°AQI 57😷✈️1h$2,481 / mo5Mbps×Definitely worth visiting but not particularly attractive as a remote work destination. I can't think of anything Seoul does better than other Asian cities outside of just being cool because it's South Korean (and I don't mean that sarcastically at all, South Korea is a very cool place). But again, do visit.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 16° 61° 15° 59°AQI 20✈️1h$2,597 / mo84Mbps×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 36° 97° 30° 86°🥵✈️5h$4,307 / mo52Mbps×This city is not for everyone, if you like shopping malls and big crowded cities it is for you. It may be cheap but if you want to live in a good location with swimming pool, go to nice rooftops and restaurants, use taxis then it is similar cost to western countries. In many areas there are no sidewalks, big and dangerous traffic all the time, pollution, taxis do not want to go with meter, it can get really hot. Definitely try to live by the metro. Many foreigners, mostly friendly people, cheap
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 45° 113° 36° 96°🥵AQI 70😷✈️4h$1,343 / mo86Mbps×Surprisingly green an pleasant city with all the ancient parks and strolls around the west lake area.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 72°AQI 55😷✈️15min$1,446 / mo4Mbps×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° 26° 79°🥵AQI 61😷✈️2h$1,558 / mo4Mbps×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 15° 59° 15° 59°AQI 26✈️2h$2,755 / mo64Mbps×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 mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 20° 68° 20° 68°AQI 61😷✈️55min$2,158 / mo67Mbps×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 41° 106° 39° 102°🥵AQI 151😷✈️4h$949 / mo63Mbps×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 21° 70° 21° 70°✈️16h$7,298 / mo95Mbps×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 24° 75° 24° 76°AQI 57😷✈️1h$2,481 / mo🌇 Also went here153 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 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 25° 77° 25° 78°✈️2h$3,000 / mo🌇 Also went here202 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 15° 59° 15° 59°AQI 26✈️2h$2,755 / mo🌇 Also went here193 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 41° 106° 39° 102°🥵AQI 151😷✈️4h$949 / mo🌇 Also went here158 people×This city is not for everyone, if you like shopping malls and big crowded cities it is for you. It may be cheap but if you want to live in a good location with swimming pool, go to nice rooftops and restaurants, use taxis then it is similar cost to western countries. In many areas there are no sidewalks, big and dangerous traffic all the time, pollution, taxis do not want to go with meter, it can get really hot. Definitely try to live by the metro. Many foreigners, mostly friendly people, cheap
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 45° 113° 36° 96°🥵AQI 70😷✈️4h$1,343 / mo🌇 Also went here246 people×The other reviews are right—it's a good city with excellent value for money. The people are nice enough. The infrastructure is good. You *should* like it, but you don't—it's incredibly, incomprehensibly boring. The vibe is aggressively lukewarm. You will find more excitement in a rural Japanese village than here—I'm not joking.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 68😷✈️5h$1,221 / mo🌇 Also went here155 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 36° 97° 30° 86°🥵✈️5h$4,307 / mo🌇 Also went here186 people×Berlin used to be nomad base in Europe... but it's not the same anymore. The 'pandemic' changed many things -- the cost of course, but also the culture -- the freedom and liberty have been contained. The police presence and size of the state have grown -- definitely doesn't feel so relaxed anymore. It's also important to note here -- there is limited ambition. Most are looking for an easy, fun and peaceful life -- which is great, but if you are building something or running a business it can fee
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 7° 45° 8° 47°AQI 59😷✈️11h$3,931 / mo🌇 Also went here163 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 5° 41° 8° 46°AQI 33✈️12h$6,081 / mo🌇 Also went here180 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 6° 43° 8° 47°AQI 27✈️12h$5,511 / mo🌇 Also went here208 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 5° 41° 7° 45°AQI 58😷✈️12h$5,045 / mo🌇 Also went here197 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 14° 57° 14° 57°AQI 50✈️13h$5,031 / mo🌇 Also went here178 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 😡 Slow👍 Liked bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57°✈️13h$5,912 / mo🌇 Also went here141 people×Hello i am agreed with previous comment . I was very passionate about Portugal pend here two and half years even more just living living here , not travel abroad . So my opinion its very beautiful country people are also very nice . Ideally if you working abroad . British and French expats are here . Nepal people hard workers and afro colonies people who came from Mozambique . Its totally fine no racism and totally solidarity . But , if you searching housing , and move in city of course , it wi
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 65°AQI 46✈️14h$3,886 / mo🌇 Also went here156 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 21° 70° 21° 70°✈️16h$7,298 / mo🌇 Also went here189 people×Can't login? See the FAQ
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