---
title: "Living in Daegu as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/daegu
description: "Korea's hot inland city with a fraction of Seoul's rents"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Daegu, South Korea

Daegu scores 65.3/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 395 of 1000 cities. Expect about $2,250 per month (country-level estimate), a nomad visa (Workcation (digital nomad) visa (F-1-D)), and a measured median download speed of 81.7 Mbps.

Daegu is Korea's fourth city, with a three-line metro, the country's fast internet and rents far below Seoul, which is under two hours away by KTX. It is landlocked and notoriously hot in summer, and few foreigners live here, so English is scarce.

Known for: Cheap for Korea, Fast internet, Hottest summers in Korea, Medical tourism.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 65.3 |
| Cost of living | 28 |
| Safety | 87 |
| Healthcare | 92 |
| Internet | 88 |
| Visa ease | 61 |
| Getting there & around | 64 |
| Climate | 25 |
| Air quality | 60 |
| Quality of life | 83 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $2,250 | 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) | 0.49 | country | 2024 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 81.7 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 88 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 83.8 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 81.7 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 78.7 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Available | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | Workcation (digital nomad) visa (F-1-D) (min $6,512/mo) | country | 2026-10-13 | [^10] |
| Visa guide | [South Korea long-stay visa guide](https://nostos.navoy.io/visas/south-korea) | country | 2026-10-13 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | 90 days / 90 days / 90 days | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (TAE) | 18 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 219 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 5 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 3 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 22.9 | city | 2019 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.937 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | moderate | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | -3.4 | 25 | 79 | no |
| Feb | -0.6 | 36 | 75 | no |
| Mar | 4.2 | 52 | 73 | no |
| Apr | 10.5 | 89 | 72 | no |
| May | 16.6 | 91 | 71 | yes |
| Jun | 21.2 | 131 | 74 | yes |
| Jul | 24.1 | 264 | 85 | no |
| Aug | 24.5 | 242 | 84 | no |
| Sep | 19.5 | 147 | 84 | yes |
| Oct | 13.1 | 64 | 80 | no |
| Nov | 5.8 | 37 | 79 | no |
| Dec | -1.4 | 24 | 79 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Daegu International Airport | TAE | 18 | 16 | 1 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 18, of which 16 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Gangneung](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/gangneung) (65.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/daegu-vs-gangneung)
- [Daejeon](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/daejeon) (66.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/daegu-vs-daejeon)
- [Jeonju](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/jeonju) (65.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/daegu-vs-jeonju)
- [Jeju City](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/jeju) (64.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/daegu-vs-jeju)
- [Busan](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/busan) (66.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/busan-vs-daegu)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $2,250 per month in Daegu (a country-level estimate for South Korea). That is a 28/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Daegu safe for digital nomads?

Daegu scores 87/100 on safety. South Korea records 0.49 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 81.7/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does South Korea have a digital nomad visa?

Yes. South Korea offers the Workcation (digital nomad) visa (F-1-D) with a minimum income of about $6,512 per month. Verify current rules with the issuing authority before applying. Full guide: https://nostos.navoy.io/visas/south-korea

### How fast is the internet in Daegu?

Measured median download speed in Daegu was 81.7 Mbps (upload 78.7 Mbps) across 2,278 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 Daegu?

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

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

Daegu is served by Daegu International Airport (TAE) with 18 nonstop destinations, of which 16 are international. 1 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are May, Jun, Sep. Mean temperatures range from 26°F (-3°C) in Jan to 76°F (25°C) in Aug (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Daegu or Gangneung: which is better for digital nomads?

Gangneung is the city with the closest factor profile to Daegu 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 Daegu](https://navoy.io/hotels/south-korea/daegu) 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]: Nostos long-stay visa guides, Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/visas (retrieved 2026-10-04)
[^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/daegu