---
title: "Living in Ashgabat as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/ashgabat
description: "Marble showcase capital of one of the world's most closed countries"
dataset: 2026.11.2 (2026-11-09)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Ashgabat scores 38.1/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 1445 of 1501 cities. There is no open cost-of-living figure yet; expect no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 1.7 Mbps.

Ashgabat is a city of white marble ministries, fountains and empty boulevards at the foot of the Kopet Dag, built as a showcase by Turkmenistan's government. It is among the hardest places in the world to work remotely: visas need a letter of invitation, the internet is slow and heavily censored with VPNs blocked, foreign cards rarely work so cash rules, and summers top 40 °C.

Known for: White marble buildings, Kopet Dag mountains, Darvaza gas crater trips, Censored, slow internet.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 38.1 |
| Cost of living | — |
| Safety | 64 |
| Healthcare | 68 |
| Internet | 10 |
| Visa ease | 6 |
| Getting there & around | 13 |
| Climate | 42 |
| Air quality | 42 |
| Quality of life | 61 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | — | 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) | 3.4 | country | 2021 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 69.7 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 81 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 69.3 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 1.7 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 0.4 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Coming soon (Starting in 2026) | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | visa required / visa required / visa required | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (ASB) | 19 | city | 2026-10 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 59 | city | 2026-11 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 2 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 5 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 31 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.764 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | — | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 2.8 | 16 | 59 | no |
| Feb | 4.2 | 29 | 59 | no |
| Mar | 9.5 | 38 | 56 | no |
| Apr | 14.8 | 32 | 52 | no |
| May | 21.5 | 18 | 41 | yes |
| Jun | 26.4 | 5 | 27 | yes |
| Jul | 28.6 | 5 | 23 | no |
| Aug | 26.8 | 2 | 21 | yes |
| Sep | 21.8 | 3 | 25 | yes |
| Oct | 15.4 | 10 | 39 | yes |
| Nov | 8.2 | 22 | 53 | no |
| Dec | 3.9 | 16 | 60 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ashgabat International Airport | ASB | 19 | 15 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 19, of which 15 international (Wikipedia, 2026-10).

## Similar cities

- [Mary (Turkmenistan)](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/mary-turkmenistan) (34.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ashgabat-vs-mary-turkmenistan)
- [Nishapur](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/nishapur) (40.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ashgabat-vs-nishapur)
- [Kermanshah](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/kermanshah) (40.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ashgabat-vs-kermanshah)
- [Tabriz](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/tabriz) (39.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ashgabat-vs-tabriz)
- [Shiraz](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/shiraz) (43) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ashgabat-vs-shiraz)

## FAQ

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

We do not have a reliable monthly cost figure for Ashgabat yet.

### Is Ashgabat safe for digital nomads?

Ashgabat scores 64/100 on safety. Turkmenistan records 3.4 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 69.7/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Turkmenistan have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Turkmenistan as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US need a visa from a consulate.

### How fast is the internet in Ashgabat?

Measured median download speed in Ashgabat was 1.7 Mbps (upload 0.4 Mbps) across 1,138 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 Ashgabat?

Not yet. Starlink's availability map lists Turkmenistan as coming soon (Starting in 2026) as of 2026-10. Roaming plans may work for short stays, but local rules on using them vary.

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

Ashgabat is served by Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) with 19 nonstop destinations, of which 15 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-10.

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

The most comfortable months are May, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct. Mean temperatures range from 37°F (3°C) in Jan to 83°F (29°C) in Jul (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Ashgabat or Mary (Turkmenistan): which is better for digital nomads?

Mary (Turkmenistan) is the city with the closest factor profile to Ashgabat 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

[Plan a trip to Ashgabat](https://dashboard.navoy.io/trip/new?utm_source=nostos&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=plan_trip&utm_content=ashgabat&destination=Ashgabat%2C+Turkmenistan) 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]: 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)
[^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]: 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 2026-10-07)
[^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/ashgabat