⭐️ Total score | 3.05/5 (Rank #808) |
👍 Quality of life score | Good |
👶 Family score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 🙂 Okay: $2,648 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🙂 Good: 7Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Okay |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🌞 Perfect: 28°C83°F (feels 33°C91°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 🥵 Sweaty: 88% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 😐 Moderate: 85 US AQI |
👌 Safety | Okay |
👮♀️ Lack of crime* | Bad |
🤝 Lack of racism* | Good |
🎓 Education level* | Mediocre |
💰 Income level* | Very low: $985 / mo |
❤️ Liked by members | 👍100% liked it 👎0% disliked it |
🙊 English speaking* | Okay |
🚶 Walkability | Bad |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Okay |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Okay |
🏥 Healthcare* | Good |
😄 Happiness* | Great |
🍸 Nightlife | Bad |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Bad |
🖥 Places to work from | Bad |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | Great |
👩 Female friendly | Okay |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Great |
🎅 Startup Score | Bad |
🌍 Continent | Latin America |
🚩 Country | Costa Rica |
⏱ Average trip length | 23 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 7 Mbps |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌧 28°C 83°F + 🥵 Sweaty (88%) = feels 33°C 91°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👎😷 85 US AQI = 🚬 / day |
🔌 Power | 115V60Hz |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | ![]() |
📱 Best wireless carrier | Movistar |
💸 1,000 CRC in USD | USD 1.50 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | CRC 100,000 = USD 150 |
💸 Tipping | No |
💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners) |
☕️ Best coffee place | Bali beach deli |
🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
♻️ Return rate | 👍11% of visitors return |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 3,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $11,825 / year |
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed | Yes |
⛪️ Religious government | Religious |
🏠 Apartment listings | VRBO |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Nature Air |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $2,648 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,512 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $2,331 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $666 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $449 / month |
🏢 Coworking | $123 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $2,441 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $114 / night |
🏡 Airbnb (median from 217 listings) | $3,065 / month |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $100 / night |
🍛 Dinner | $6 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $3 |
☕️ Coffee | $2 |
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm all year round
✅ Good air quality usually
✅ Nomad List members liked going here a lot
✅ Many Nomad List members have been
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ Very easy to make friends
✅ Easy to do business
✅ High quality of education
✅ Roads are pretty safe
✅ Great freedom of speech
✅ Democratic
✅ Safe for women
✅ Family friendly
✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+
✅ Not many people smoke tobacco
❌ Expensive
❌ Not very safe
❌ Pretty slow internet
❌ Not much to do
❌ Very sweaty and humid now
❌ Not many Nomad List members right now
❌ Hospitals are bad
❌ People don't speak English well
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Feels | 9535° hot | 9736° hot | 9535° hot | 9937° hot | 9535° hot | 9736° hot | 9736° hot | 9133° hot | 9133° hot | 9133° hot | 9133° hot | 9535° hot |
Real | 8429° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8630° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8429° very warm |
Humidity | sweaty 81% | sweaty 76% | sweaty 72% | sweaty 81% | sweaty 84% | sweaty 87% | sweaty 87% | sweaty 88% | sweaty 89% | sweaty 89% | sweaty 86% | sweaty 84% |
Rain | rainy 50mm | dry 22mm | dry 37mm | rainy 213mm | rainy 329mm | rainy 419mm | rainy 411mm | rainy 529mm | rainy 372mm | rainy 473mm | rainy 197mm | rainy 117mm |
Cloud | pockets 40% | pockets 30% | pockets 33% | cloudy 62% | cloudy 69% | cloudy 78% | cloudy 75% | cloudy 82% | cloudy 79% | cloudy 72% | cloudy 56% | pockets 37% |
Sun | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 11 UVI | avoid sun 12 UVI | avoid sun 10 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI |
Remote workers | 525 people | 650 people | 720 people | 900 people | 600 people | 600 people | 400 people | 600 people | 480 people | 267 people | 560 people | 320 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Santa Teresa's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
According to the World Happiness Report, San José in Costa Rica is the 11th "happiest city" (in terms of how positively the inhabitants currently evaluate their lives on average) among 186 cities across the globe. In this ranking, the top cities have often a much higher cost of living.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety very badTap to open🌧 Feels 23° 73° 23° 74°AQI 82😷🚕4h$1,915 / mo4Mbps×Only shop in Liberia. Playa Hermosa/Ocatal is simply lovely. As a female traveler, havent had any issues/concerns. My Spanish is basic and no issues there either.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 27° 80°🥵AQI 85😷🚕4h$1,306 / mo4Mbps×Safety score is honestly too high! I passed through Managua a few times during my time in Nicaragua, and it remains the sketchiest, dirtiest city I've personally seen in Latin America. It's also ungodly hot and smelly. Would not recommend staying here for any reason whatsoever.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun bad👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 39° 102° 30° 85°🥵AQI 82😷✈️24min$1,346 / mo4Mbps×Bocas del Toro is an awesome place to come and work at. There are different places to stay and work in Bocas del Toro, throughout the archipelago that offer different experiences. Some places are more remote with high speed internet service, comfortable settings just a bit far so getting into town and enjoying the nightlife can be more difficult. If you want to stay in town there are some options in Bocas Town with co-working spaces like Selinas Hostel, but keep in mind there is a lively nightli
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 84°🥵AQI 42✈️26min$2,216 / mo5Mbps×Ungodly hot year round, but some cool things to see. Can't imagine working from here, but it a cool enough place to visit for a few days if you can stand the heat. Volcano boarding is a great time!
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun bad👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 39° 102° 31° 87°🥵AQI 82😷✈️29min$1,329 / mo5Mbps×Panama City is a B+ place to live: solid weather, amenities, safety, and cleanliness... but, it feels much like an American city due to the skyscrapers, urban sprawl, and the limited activities. If you're not shopping, eating at a restaurant, bar hopping, or going to a reggaeton club until 3am, there's not a whole lot else to do. The weather is remarkably consistent: everyday it will be 85F, it will be cloudy for a few hours including a 15-30 minute shower, and then it will be mostly sunny for
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 37° 99° 29° 84°🥵AQI 42✈️50min$2,224 / mo14Mbps×According to the World Happiness Report, San José in Costa Rica is the 11th "happiest city" (in terms of how positively the inhabitants currently evaluate their lives on average) among 186 cities across the globe. In this ranking, the top cities have often a much higher cost of living.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety very badTap to open🌧 Feels 23° 73° 23° 74°AQI 82😷🚕4h$1,915 / mo4Mbps×I really enjoyed my first week here, but as I got to know more locals and heard their stories, I was disturbed at the security situation. Almost everyone I met has horror stories about being robbed at gunpoint, robbed by the police, and in one case even drugged and robbed by a taxi driver. It's not even safe to walk a short distance at night (locals told me to just take Uber). Beyond the security issues, scams also abound, and the covid policy is wacky, with hand sanitizer being forced on you ev
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70°AQI 82😷✈️2h$1,550 / mo11Mbps×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 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 38° 100° 31° 87°🥵AQI 44✈️5h$5,303 / mo34Mbps×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 🙂 Good😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 18✈️6h$6,352 / mo84Mbps×Spent 2 months in Medellin this spring and loved it. Just booked a flight to go back for the Flower Festival in a couple weeks. The contrast of the city and vibrant jungle is stunning. Half of the time we were in Poblado and they other half in Laureles. Poblado has a really fun food scene with impressive restaurants and grocery stores, while Laureles has tons of cafes that are great for working in. Laureles definitely has a more authentic, residential vibe which we really liked. There's definit
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 25° 77° 25° 78°AQI 61✈️1h$1,040 / mo5Mbps×Internet is not the best but generally acceptable for the type of work I do (infrequent video calls, Slack, web applications, email, no heavy file downloading), except when the internet goes down, it is pretty widespread. Have a local backup SIM, or make sure you have a little flexibility with work. The downsides of the somewhat unreliable internet were made up for, in my opinion, by the beautiful beaches, surfing, and delicious/cheap local food in Centro (La Punta and Zicatela are way too touri
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 36° 97° 30° 87°🥵AQI 9✈️2h$1,588 / mo24Mbps×Bocas del Toro is an awesome place to come and work at. There are different places to stay and work in Bocas del Toro, throughout the archipelago that offer different experiences. Some places are more remote with high speed internet service, comfortable settings just a bit far so getting into town and enjoying the nightlife can be more difficult. If you want to stay in town there are some options in Bocas Town with co-working spaces like Selinas Hostel, but keep in mind there is a lively nightli
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 84°🥵AQI 42✈️26min$2,216 / mo5Mbps×I guess if you're a nomad this doesn't matter much, but the long-term job pickings here are slim and among the most underpaid for a US city. There seems to be a tacit rent floor that means you won't find a good deal on housing. A lot of people don't seem very invested in their interpersonal relationships here since their ties to the area are often transient.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 36° 97° 30° 86°🥵AQI 33✈️2h$4,532 / mo39Mbps×Was here for January 2022. It was very nice. It's a very European city with South American vibes. Due to high inflation, it's cheap. The steak is the best I've ever eaten. Go to AreaTres for coworking. Bring cash (EUR or USD) in large bills. Otherwise, you'll have to pay by card and get the official exchange rate, which is 50% of what you get on the black ("blue") market. There are many places to exchange cash. As an alternative to cash, I've also heard that people like to send themselves money
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety badTap to open🌥 Feels 11° 52° 12° 54°AQI 57✈️8h$916 / mo4Mbps×All in, Austin is a good city. We live in Hill Country now so we're a bit removed. But it's beautiful area once you get away from the highways. A good tech scene. Not too expensive (~$2100 for a nice 2 bedroom apt) for the U.S. Has wineries and breweries galore. Not a great place if you are a recovering alcoholic (!). Cons: extremely hot in the summer; reaches 110 F (43.3 C) in summer afternoons from June - September. Not very diverse. Highways are loud and obnoxious.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 42° 108° 34° 93°🥵AQI 38✈️4h$3,926 / mo42Mbps×According to the World Happiness Report, San José in Costa Rica is the 11th "happiest city" (in terms of how positively the inhabitants currently evaluate their lives on average) among 186 cities across the globe. In this ranking, the top cities have often a much higher cost of living.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety very badTap to open🌧 Feels 23° 73° 23° 74°AQI 82😷🚕4h$1,915 / mo🌇 Also went here49 people×Spent 2 months in Medellin this spring and loved it. Just booked a flight to go back for the Flower Festival in a couple weeks. The contrast of the city and vibrant jungle is stunning. Half of the time we were in Poblado and they other half in Laureles. Poblado has a really fun food scene with impressive restaurants and grocery stores, while Laureles has tons of cafes that are great for working in. Laureles definitely has a more authentic, residential vibe which we really liked. There's definit
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 25° 77° 25° 78°AQI 61✈️1h$1,040 / mo🌇 Also went here33 people×Touristy circus of a place. Everyone is trying to rip you off... even as fluent Spanish speaker. Check out PV or anywhere west coast instead.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86°🥵AQI 82😷✈️2h$1,591 / mo🌇 Also went here30 people×I really enjoyed my first week here, but as I got to know more locals and heard their stories, I was disturbed at the security situation. Almost everyone I met has horror stories about being robbed at gunpoint, robbed by the police, and in one case even drugged and robbed by a taxi driver. It's not even safe to walk a short distance at night (locals told me to just take Uber). Beyond the security issues, scams also abound, and the covid policy is wacky, with hand sanitizer being forced on you ev
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety badTap to open🌧 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70°AQI 82😷✈️2h$1,550 / mo🌇 Also went here50 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 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 38° 100° 31° 87°🥵AQI 44✈️5h$5,303 / mo🌇 Also went here39 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 🙂 Good😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 18✈️6h$6,352 / mo🌇 Also went here27 people×Was here for January 2022. It was very nice. It's a very European city with South American vibes. Due to high inflation, it's cheap. The steak is the best I've ever eaten. Go to AreaTres for coworking. Bring cash (EUR or USD) in large bills. Otherwise, you'll have to pay by card and get the official exchange rate, which is 50% of what you get on the black ("blue") market. There are many places to exchange cash. As an alternative to cash, I've also heard that people like to send themselves money
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety badTap to open🌥 Feels 11° 52° 12° 54°AQI 57✈️8h$916 / mo🌇 Also went here29 people×Great city, but if you are a digital nomad and can afford higher rates, please don't drop insane amounts and pay what the locals do. I have heard of "nomads" coming here for a month and dropping 2k on a T1, while at most it shouldn't exceed 800 euros in the centre of Lisbon, which even like others have noted is an insane amount for locals. Also, the government should really start constructing social housing and do something about subletting/vacation rentals.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 24° 75° 24° 75°AQI 24✈️11h$2,406 / mo🌇 Also went here44 people×Awesome city. Limitless good restaurants and bars. Easy to use transit, but you barely need it because the city is so walkable. Beautiful streets. Overflowing with genuine Spanish culture. Not cheap but affordable for how large of a city it is. Wish it was a bit greener, but overall Madrid is a great spot to spend significant time in.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 31° 88° 33° 92°🥵AQI 68✈️11h$3,129 / mo🌇 Also went here30 people×How did you guys classified Penge as rich? It is one of the worst neighbourhood I have ever been in London, the ammount of people I know that have been robbed there is appalling.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 27° 81° 26° 80°AQI 42✈️12h$4,808 / mo🌇 Also went here38 people×Lived there last September and October and am coming back later this year. Yes, it is expensive, but after a while I learned about affordable places to eat and realized I could choose neighborhoods farther from city center, and it would still be nice. City feels super safe, even at nigh! Internet is crazy fast (I got 500mb on my airbnb) there are tons to do and see and I did not encounter the super rude Parisians people talk so much about, mostly everyone spoke English and were very polite. Rent
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 28° 82° 28° 82°AQI 46✈️12h$4,694 / mo🌇 Also went here31 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 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 36° 97° 31° 88°🥵AQI 31✈️12h$3,653 / mo🌇 Also went here42 people×Berlin 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
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 25° 77° 25° 77°AQI 34✈️13h$2,903 / mo🌇 Also went here36 people×I've been to Bangkok for almost two weeks now and I can't understand comments about the lack of soul or everything being on sale. Sure, there are some sketchy parts like massage parlour touts and an occasional ladyboy here and there, but overall my impression is that it's just a regular big city with some clear advantages. Coming from Central Europe, I find everybody to be very calm and polite. Some may argue it's just a facade and fair enough, but I prefer a calm and kind facade over cold and i
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82°🥵AQI 25✈️23h$1,267 / mo🌇 Also went here33 people×The places to rent are not very good. Poor design and low quality furniture. You won't find one that comes with a good desk and chair. Most of them don't have a good place to put one even if you bring your own. Hard water is common and unpleasant. Can't walk around due to small roads, traffic, sometimes unfriendly stray dogs. It does have good restaurants, lots of variety from many international cuisines. Not that great for Indonesian food though. Probably better for a short visit rather than
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 32° 90° 28° 83°🥵AQI 59✈️24h$1,500 / mo🌇 Also went here29 people×