---
title: "Living in Geelong as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/geelong
description: "Victoria's second city: a waterfront, surf coast and a train to Melbourne"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Geelong, Australia

Geelong scores 68.4/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 209 of 1000 cities. Expect about $3,350 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 63.9 Mbps.

Geelong is a port city of about 280,000 on Corio Bay, 75 km south-west of Melbourne, with a redeveloped waterfront, Deakin University and the Bellarine and Surf Coast beaches on its doorstep. Rents are clearly lower than Melbourne and V/Line trains reach the city in about an hour, but Avalon airport has few routes and the city still has a post-industrial, suburban feel.

Known for: Waterfront and Eastern Beach, Great Ocean Road gateway, Torquay surf 20 km, Train to Melbourne about 1 h.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 68.4 |
| Cost of living | 13 |
| Safety | 82 |
| Healthcare | 91 |
| Internet | 79 |
| Visa ease | 42 |
| Getting there & around | 62 |
| Climate | 50 |
| 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) | 0.94 | country | 2024 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 79.3 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 89 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 83.1 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 63.9 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 23.2 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Available | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | eTA required (online, before travel) / eTA required (online, before travel) / eTA required (online, before travel) | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (AVV/MEL) | 71 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 120 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 3 / 3 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 6 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 6.1 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.958 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | native | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 20 | 40 | 62 | yes |
| Feb | 19.6 | 42 | 66 | yes |
| Mar | 18.3 | 36 | 66 | yes |
| Apr | 15.3 | 50 | 72 | yes |
| May | 12.3 | 47 | 78 | no |
| Jun | 9.9 | 56 | 83 | no |
| Jul | 9.1 | 54 | 83 | no |
| Aug | 9.6 | 59 | 80 | no |
| Sep | 11.5 | 53 | 76 | no |
| Oct | 13.7 | 52 | 71 | no |
| Nov | 16.2 | 62 | 68 | yes |
| Dec | 18 | 47 | 64 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Avalon Airport | AVV | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Melbourne Airport | MEL | 71 | 40 | 3 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 71, of which 40 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Wollongong](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/wollongong) (69) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/geelong-vs-wollongong)
- [Melbourne](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/melbourne) (68.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/geelong-vs-melbourne)
- [Adelaide](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/adelaide) (67.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/adelaide-vs-geelong)
- [Cairns](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cairns) (67) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/cairns-vs-geelong)
- [Auckland](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/auckland) (67.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/auckland-vs-geelong)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $3,350 per month in Geelong (a country-level estimate for Australia). That is a 13/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Geelong safe for digital nomads?

Geelong scores 82/100 on safety. Australia records 0.94 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 79.3/100 (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 need an electronic travel authorisation (eTA), bought online before the trip.

### How fast is the internet in Geelong?

Measured median download speed in Geelong was 63.9 Mbps (upload 23.2 Mbps) across 8,758 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 Geelong?

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

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

Geelong is served by Avalon Airport (AVV) with 5 nonstop destinations and Melbourne Airport (MEL) with 71 nonstop destinations, 71 unique destinations across all of them, of which 40 are international. 3 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 48°F (9°C) in Jul to 68°F (20°C) in Jan (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Geelong or Wollongong: which is better for digital nomads?

Wollongong is the city with the closest factor profile to Geelong 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 Geelong](https://navoy.io/hotels/australia/geelong) 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]: 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/geelong