---
title: "Living in Arequipa as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/arequipa
description: "White volcanic city under El Misti"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Arequipa, Peru

Arequipa scores 47.1/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 265 of 309 cities. Expect about $1,406 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 20.1 Mbps.

Arequipa is Peru's second city, built of white volcanic stone under the cone of El Misti, with sun almost every day and the Colca canyon nearby. It is calmer and lower than Cusco and cheaper than Lima.

Known for: UNESCO white city, Colca canyon, Sunny and dry, Low costs.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 47.1 |
| Cost of living | 52 |
| Safety | 44 |
| Healthcare | 60 |
| Internet | 52 |
| Visa ease | 59 |
| Getting there & around | 20 |
| Climate | 0 |
| Air quality | 82 |
| Quality of life | 54 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,406 | city | 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) | 6.2 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 54.7 | country | 2024 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 68 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 71.7 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 20.1 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 12.8 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | 180 days / 90 days / 180 days | editorial | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (AQP) | 2 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 0 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 13.1 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.794 | country | 2023 | [^16] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^17] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 11.6 | 35 | 64 | no |
| Feb | 11.5 | 47 | 69 | no |
| Mar | 11.6 | 25 | 67 | no |
| Apr | 11.4 | 6 | 56 | no |
| May | 10.1 | 2 | 40 | no |
| Jun | 9.7 | 0 | 36 | no |
| Jul | 9.4 | 2 | 34 | no |
| Aug | 10.2 | 1 | 32 | no |
| Sep | 11.1 | 3 | 35 | no |
| Oct | 11.8 | 7 | 38 | no |
| Nov | 12.1 | 4 | 43 | no |
| Dec | 11.9 | 16 | 55 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Rodríguez Ballón International Airport | AQP | 2 | 0 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 2, of which 0 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Cusco](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cusco) (46.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/arequipa-vs-cusco)
- [Cuenca](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cuenca) (52) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/arequipa-vs-cuenca)
- [Phuket](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/phuket) (50.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/arequipa-vs-phuket)
- [Boquete](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/boquete) (50.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/arequipa-vs-boquete)
- [Almaty](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/almaty) (45.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/almaty-vs-arequipa)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $1,406 per month in Arequipa. That is a 52/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Arequipa safe for digital nomads?

Arequipa scores 44/100 on safety. Peru records 6.2 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 54.7/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Peru have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Peru as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay 180 days visa-free.

### How fast is the internet in Arequipa?

Measured median download speed in Arequipa was 20.1 Mbps (upload 12.8 Mbps) across 29,131 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.

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

Arequipa is served by Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP) with 2 nonstop destinations, of which 0 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

No month meets our comfort rule (59–82°F / 15–28 °C mean, at most 5.9 in / 150 mm rain, at most 85% humidity). Mean temperatures range from 49°F (9°C) in Jul to 54°F (12°C) in Nov (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Arequipa or Cusco: which is better for digital nomads?

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

## 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]: WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/cities (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]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^5]: Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population, 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/estimates-of-rates-of-homicides-per-100-000-population (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^6]: 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)
[^7]: 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)
[^8]: 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)
[^9]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^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]: SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04), Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis. CC BY 4.0. https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/surface-pm2-5/ (retrieved 2026-09-26)
[^16]: 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)
[^17]: 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/arequipa