---
title: "Living in Annecy as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/annecy
description: "Alpine lake town an hour from Geneva"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Annecy, France

Annecy scores 66.2/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 348 of 1000 cities. Expect about $2,450 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 55.1 Mbps.

Annecy sits on one of Europe's cleanest lakes with cycling paths, hiking and ski resorts within an hour, and Geneva's airport is 45 minutes away. Rents are high for a French town of its size, and summer tourism makes the old town crowded.

Known for: Lake Annecy swimming, Hiking and skiing, Geneva airport 45 min, Expensive for France.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 66.2 |
| Cost of living | 25 |
| Safety | 68 |
| Healthcare | 85 |
| Internet | 80 |
| Visa ease | 61 |
| Getting there & around | 77 |
| Climate | 25 |
| Air quality | 94 |
| Quality of life | 81 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $2,450 | country | 2026-09 | [^2] |
| Central 1-bedroom rent | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Outskirts 1-bedroom rent (basis of the monthly total) | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Homicide rate (per 100k) | 1.33 | country | 2024 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 64 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 82 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 81.9 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 55.1 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 55.5 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Available | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | 90 days / unlimited / 90 days | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (GVA/LYS) | 191 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 259 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 3 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 3 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 7.7 | city | 2024 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.92 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | moderate | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | -0.8 | 98 | 84 | no |
| Feb | -0.1 | 73 | 82 | no |
| Mar | 3.9 | 90 | 80 | no |
| Apr | 8.4 | 75 | 76 | no |
| May | 12.1 | 111 | 77 | no |
| Jun | 16.7 | 100 | 74 | yes |
| Jul | 18.8 | 93 | 68 | yes |
| Aug | 18.4 | 99 | 68 | yes |
| Sep | 14.3 | 76 | 72 | no |
| Oct | 10.1 | 91 | 77 | no |
| Nov | 4.3 | 96 | 83 | no |
| Dec | 0.3 | 106 | 82 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Geneva Airport | GVA | 151 | 136 | 3 |
| Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport | LYS | 142 | 120 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 191, of which 168 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Rennes](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/rennes) (67.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/annecy-vs-rennes)
- [Angers](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/angers) (67.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/angers-vs-annecy)
- [Nantes](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/nantes) (66.8) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/annecy-vs-nantes)
- [Lille](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/lille) (64.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/annecy-vs-lille)
- [Strasbourg](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/strasbourg) (66.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/annecy-vs-strasbourg)

## FAQ

### How much does it cost to live in Annecy as a digital nomad?

A single person typically spends about $2,450 per month in Annecy (a country-level estimate for France). That is a 25/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Annecy safe for digital nomads?

Annecy scores 68/100 on safety. France records 1.33 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 64/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does France have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for France as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay 90 days visa-free.

### How fast is the internet in Annecy?

Measured median download speed in Annecy was 55.1 Mbps (upload 55.5 Mbps) across 7,518 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.

### Is Starlink available in Annecy?

Yes. Starlink's availability map lists residential service as available in France (checked 2026-10), so a dish can serve as a backup line in Annecy. Check the exact address on starlink.com before ordering, since capacity varies by area.

### Which airports serve Annecy and how many nonstop flights are there?

Annecy is served by Geneva Airport (GVA) with 151 nonstop destinations and Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) with 142 nonstop destinations, 191 unique destinations across all of them, of which 168 are international. 3 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

### When is the best time of year to be in Annecy?

The most comfortable months are Jun, Jul, Aug. Mean temperatures range from 31°F (-1°C) in Jan to 66°F (19°C) in Jul (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Annecy or Rennes: which is better for digital nomads?

Rennes is the city with the closest factor profile to Annecy in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.

## Plan a trip

[Where to stay in Annecy](https://navoy.io/hotels/france/annecy) on Navoy, the AI travel planner behind Nostos.

## Sources

[^1]: City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^2]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^3]: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^4]: Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, dataUNODC. UNODC data, free to reuse with attribution. https://data.unodc.org/datareport/hom-victim (retrieved 2026-10-12)
[^5]: Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^6]: UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/uhc-index-of-service-coverage (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^7]: Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^8]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^9]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^10]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^11]: Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. https://github.com/ilyankou/passport-index-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^12]: Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-24)
[^13]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^14]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8), World Health Organization. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/who-ambient-air-quality-database-(update-jun-2026) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^16]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)
[^17]: Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^18]: EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. https://www.ef.com/epi/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)

HTML page: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/annecy