---
title: "Living in Cairns as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cairns
description: "Tropical gateway to the Great Barrier Reef"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Cairns, Australia

Cairns scores 59.6/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 170 of 309 cities. Expect about $3,350 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 40.6 Mbps.

Cairns is the tropical base for the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree rainforest, with an esplanade lagoon and international flights. Summers are wet and hot; winters are perfect.

Known for: Great Barrier Reef, Daintree rainforest, Tropical climate, Wet season.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 59.6 |
| Cost of living | 14 |
| Safety | 86 |
| Healthcare | 91 |
| Internet | 64 |
| Visa ease | 6 |
| Getting there & around | 20 |
| Climate | 58 |
| Air quality | 98 |
| Quality of life | 98 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $3,350 | 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) | 0.9 | country | 2021 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 79.4 | country | 2024 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 89 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 83.1 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 40.6 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 10.9 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^9] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | visa or e-visa required / visa or e-visa required / visa or e-visa required | editorial | 2026-02 | [^10] |
| Non-stop destinations (CNS) | 37 | city | 2026-09 | [^11] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 3 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Comfortable months | 7 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^13] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 5.8 | city | 2024 | [^14] |
| Human Development Index | 0.958 | country | 2023 | [^15] |
| English proficiency band | native | country | 2024 | [^16] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 25 | 352 | 85 | no |
| Feb | 24.9 | 392 | 88 | no |
| Mar | 24 | 392 | 88 | no |
| Apr | 22.5 | 191 | 87 | no |
| May | 20.7 | 103 | 85 | yes |
| Jun | 19.3 | 63 | 84 | yes |
| Jul | 18.7 | 53 | 81 | yes |
| Aug | 19.3 | 31 | 77 | yes |
| Sep | 21.2 | 31 | 74 | yes |
| Oct | 23.1 | 62 | 73 | yes |
| Nov | 24.4 | 86 | 74 | yes |
| Dec | 25.4 | 179 | 77 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cairns Airport | CNS | 37 | 6 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 37, of which 6 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Adelaide](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/adelaide) (60.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/adelaide-vs-cairns)
- [Canberra](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/canberra) (58.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/cairns-vs-canberra)
- [Gold Coast](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/gold-coast) (61.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/cairns-vs-gold-coast)
- [Byron Bay](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/byron-bay) (60.8) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/byron-bay-vs-cairns)
- [Auckland](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/auckland) (60.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/auckland-vs-cairns)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $3,350 per month in Cairns (a country-level estimate for Australia). That is a 14/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Cairns safe for digital nomads?

Cairns scores 86/100 on safety. Australia records 0.9 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 79.4/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Australia have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Australia as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay only with a visa, e-visa, eTA or visa on arrival days.

### How fast is the internet in Cairns?

Measured median download speed in Cairns was 40.6 Mbps (upload 10.9 Mbps) across 2,282 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 Cairns and how many nonstop flights are there?

Cairns is served by Cairns Airport (CNS) with 37 nonstop destinations, of which 6 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov. Mean temperatures range from 66°F (19°C) in Jul to 78°F (25°C) in Dec (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Cairns or Adelaide: which is better for digital nomads?

Adelaide is the city with the closest factor profile to Cairns 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]: 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]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^10]: 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)
[^11]: 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)
[^12]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^13]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^14]: 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)
[^15]: 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)
[^16]: 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/cairns