---
title: "Living in New Delhi as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/delhi
description: "India's capital: history, food and smog"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# New Delhi, India

New Delhi scores 41.3/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 292 of 309 cities. Expect about $750 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 34.8 Mbps.

Delhi offers extraordinary history, a large metro and a low cost of living. Winter air pollution is among the worst in the world.

Known for: Mughal monuments, Metro network, Food culture, Winter smog.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 41.3 |
| Cost of living | 80 |
| Safety | 49 |
| Healthcare | 53 |
| Internet | 63 |
| Visa ease | 6 |
| Getting there & around | 42 |
| Climate | 42 |
| Air quality | 0 |
| Quality of life | 38 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $750 | 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) | 3.6 | country | 2021 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 52.5 | country | 2024 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 69 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 67.3 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 34.8 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 14.6 | 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 (DEL) | 153 | city | 2026-09 | [^11] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 2 / 4 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Comfortable months | 5 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^13] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 107 | city | 2021 | [^14] |
| Human Development Index | 0.685 | country | 2023 | [^15] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^16] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 13.6 | 16 | 44 | no |
| Feb | 17.4 | 22 | 41 | yes |
| Mar | 23.6 | 18 | 33 | yes |
| Apr | 30.4 | 15 | 24 | no |
| May | 35.1 | 33 | 23 | no |
| Jun | 35.9 | 80 | 36 | no |
| Jul | 32.3 | 217 | 63 | no |
| Aug | 29.8 | 203 | 75 | no |
| Sep | 28.3 | 121 | 69 | no |
| Oct | 25.2 | 13 | 51 | yes |
| Nov | 20.1 | 4 | 43 | yes |
| Dec | 15.2 | 8 | 42 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Indira Gandhi International Airport | DEL | 153 | 67 | 4 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 153, of which 67 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Mumbai](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/mumbai) (38.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/delhi-vs-mumbai)
- [Hyderabad](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/hyderabad) (41.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/delhi-vs-hyderabad)
- [Pune](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/pune) (39.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/delhi-vs-pune)
- [Cairo](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cairo) (38.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/cairo-vs-delhi)
- [Kathmandu](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/kathmandu) (40.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/delhi-vs-kathmandu)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $750 per month in New Delhi (a country-level estimate for India). That is a 80/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is New Delhi safe for digital nomads?

New Delhi scores 49/100 on safety. India records 3.6 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 52.5/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does India have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for India 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 New Delhi?

Measured median download speed in New Delhi was 34.8 Mbps (upload 14.6 Mbps) across 1,181,477 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 New Delhi and how many nonstop flights are there?

New Delhi is served by Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) with 153 nonstop destinations, of which 67 are international. 4 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 56°F (14°C) in Jan to 97°F (36°C) in Jun (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### New Delhi or Mumbai: which is better for digital nomads?

Mumbai is the city with the closest factor profile to New Delhi 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)

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