⭐️ Total score | 2.83/5 (Rank #462) |
👍 Quality of life score | Okay |
👶 Family score | Okay |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $2,051 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🤬 Unusably slow: 4Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Bad |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🌞 Perfect: 22°C72°F (feels 22°C72°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 😊 Comfy: 51% |
💨 Air quality (now) | 😷 Unhealthy for some: 102 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) | 4 Mbps ⚠️ Internet in Shenzhen 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 (51%) = feels 22°C 72°F |
💨 Air quality (now) | 👎😷 102 US AQI = 🚬 / day |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎☠️ 106 US AQI = 🚬 / day |
🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood | Luohu |
🚕 Best taxi app* | |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | ![]() |
💸 10 CNY in USD | USD 1.41 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | CNY 1,000 = USD 141 |
💸 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 | 👍15% 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 | $2,051 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,390 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $3,150 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $900 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $872 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $2,168 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $654 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $41 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $71 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $313 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $4 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $2 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $4 |
👩🏫 International school | $26,464 / year |
📱 Mobile data (~10GB) | $4 / month |
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi) | $1 / trip |
✅ Very safe
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm all year round
✅ Perfect humidity now
✅ Many Nomad List members have been
✅ Easy to do business
✅ Great hospitals
✅ Safe for women
❌ No freedom of speech
❌ No democracy
❌ Very 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 | 7021° mild | 7222° mild | 7524° warm | 8429° warm | 9736° hot | 10842° scorching | 11144° scorching | 11546° scorching | 11144° scorching | 8831° hot | 7725° warm | 7222° mild |
Real | 6921° mild | 7122° mild | 7424° warm | 7926° warm | 8530° very warm | 8831° hot | 9032° hot | 9032° hot | 9032° hot | 8228° very warm | 7725° warm | 7122° mild |
Humidity | nice 67% | nice 72% | nice 80% | sweaty 80% | sweaty 83% | sweaty 85% | sweaty 81% | sweaty 84% | sweaty 80% | sweaty 72% | nice 69% | nice 63% |
Most common | ||||||||||||
Rain | dry 3mm | rainy 57mm | dry 20mm | dry 49mm | rainy 80mm | rainy 248mm | rainy 141mm | rainy 226mm | rainy 76mm | rainy 295mm | dry 5mm | dry 42mm |
Cloud | pockets 30% | pockets 23% | cloudy 50% | cloudy 61% | cloudy 70% | overcast 93% | cloudy 78% | overcast 90% | cloudy 54% | cloudy 70% | pockets 50% | pockets 47% |
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 | 444 people | 333 people | 378 people | 433 people | 422 people | 422 people | 360 people | 444 people | 422 people | 500 people | 486 people | 467 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😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70°AQI 80😷🚕1h$2,866 / mo33Mbps×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😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 19° 66° 19° 65°AQI 57😷🚕3h$1,469 / mo3Mbps×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😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70°AQI 80😷🚕1h$2,866 / mo33Mbps×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😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 19° 66° 19° 65°AQI 57😷🚕3h$1,469 / mo3Mbps×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😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 7° 45° 8° 47°AQI 68😷✈️2h$1,946 / mo4Mbps×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels -2° 28° 0° 32°AQI 30✈️3h$2,295 / 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😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 27° 81°🥵AQI 17✈️3h$4,050 / mo54Mbps×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 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 1° 34° 2° 35°AQI 42✈️3h$2,518 / mo4Mbps×We used to live in Canggu back in 2017, it felt back then like the perfect balance between western development and local culture. You used to have enough cafés and restaurants and stays were mainly affordable villas. Coming back in 2023 I have to say this place is unrecognizable. Only now I realize how much damage influencers did to Canggu, telling everyone to come here and invest and overdevelop with little to no regard to the local culture. Also the pandemic played its part, you used to nee
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 31° 88° 27° 80°🥵AQI 71😷✈️5h$2,006 / mo56Mbps×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 37° 99° 32° 90°🥵AQI 109😷✈️2h$1,414 / mo81Mbps×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😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 54°AQI 17✈️15h$5,653 / mo101Mbps×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 30° 86° 28° 83°AQI 105😷✈️2h$1,025 / mo65Mbps×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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50°AQI 3✈️4h$2,987 / mo73Mbps×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😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70°AQI 80😷🚕1h$2,866 / mo🌇 Also went here159 people×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😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 19° 66° 19° 65°AQI 57😷🚕3h$1,469 / mo🌇 Also went here85 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😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 7° 45° 8° 47°AQI 68😷✈️2h$1,946 / mo🌇 Also went here109 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 30° 86° 28° 83°AQI 105😷✈️2h$1,025 / mo🌇 Also went here105 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 37° 99° 32° 90°🥵AQI 109😷✈️2h$1,414 / mo🌇 Also went here136 people×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 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 1° 34° 2° 35°AQI 42✈️3h$2,518 / mo🌇 Also went here93 people×Very nice city, but as everyone says, a bit boring after awhile. It's comfortable and feels like the suburbs, with conveniences that you don't always find in SE Asian countries. Luxury shopping malls, excellent hospitals, and infrastructure, are all things that are not as common in other SE Asian countries, (although Bangkok, TH, has good malls and hospitals). KLCC is safe, from a solo female traveler, if you're careful. I stayed in the KLCC area and was advised by other KL nomads, to stay ins
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 😡 Slow😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 27° 80°🥵AQI 52😷✈️3h$1,282 / mo🌇 Also went here83 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😀 Fun good👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 27° 81°🥵AQI 17✈️3h$4,050 / mo🌇 Also went here114 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50°AQI 3✈️4h$2,987 / mo🌇 Also went here109 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😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels -5° 23° -2° 28°AQI 82😷✈️12h$3,881 / mo🌇 Also went here80 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😀 Fun good👮 Safety goodTap to open✈️12h$5,612 / mo🌇 Also went here92 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 😡 Slow😀 Fun great👮 Safety goodTap to open✈️13h$6,042 / mo🌇 Also went here106 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😀 Fun good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 1° 34° 4° 38°AQI 73😷✈️13h$5,054 / mo🌇 Also went here113 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😀 Fun bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 54°AQI 17✈️15h$5,653 / mo🌇 Also went here93 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😀 Fun great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 9° 48° 10° 50°AQI 44✈️17h$7,576 / mo🌇 Also went here100 people×