---
title: "Living in Ghent as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/ghent
description: "Flemish university city with a car-free medieval centre"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Ghent, Belgium

Ghent scores 69.1/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 164 of 1000 cities. Expect about $2,459 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 65.2 Mbps.

Ghent is Flanders' student city, a medieval port with canals and a castle that has kept most cars out of its centre since 2017 and runs trams through it. It has far fewer tourists than Bruges, a strong vegetarian and bar culture, and Brussels is about 30 min by train. Housing is tight because of the university, and the airport is Brussels.

Known for: Gravensteen castle and canals, Ghent University, Car-light centre and trams, Brussels in 30 min.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 69.1 |
| Cost of living | 25 |
| Safety | 73 |
| Healthcare | 87 |
| Internet | 79 |
| Visa ease | 61 |
| Getting there & around | 87 |
| Climate | 25 |
| Air quality | 90 |
| Quality of life | 96 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $2,459 | city | 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) | 1.08 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 68.6 | country | 2025 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 86 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 81.5 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 65.2 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 18.3 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Starlink residential service | Available | country | 2026-10 | [^10] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^11] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | 90 days / unlimited / 90 days | country | 2026-02 | [^12] |
| Non-stop destinations (BRU) | 190 | city | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 548 | city | 2026-10 | [^17] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 5 / 4 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^14] |
| Comfortable months | 3 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^15] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 9.5 | city | 2024 | [^16] |
| Human Development Index | 0.951 | country | 2023 | [^18] |
| English proficiency band | very-high | country | 2024 | [^19] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 2.9 | 69 | 93 | no |
| Feb | 3.4 | 60 | 89 | no |
| Mar | 6 | 55 | 85 | no |
| Apr | 9.6 | 38 | 80 | no |
| May | 13.1 | 59 | 78 | no |
| Jun | 16.3 | 64 | 78 | yes |
| Jul | 18.2 | 76 | 78 | yes |
| Aug | 17.8 | 81 | 79 | yes |
| Sep | 14.9 | 57 | 81 | no |
| Oct | 11.2 | 67 | 86 | no |
| Nov | 7 | 73 | 92 | no |
| Dec | 3.7 | 79 | 94 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Brussels Airport | BRU | 190 | 190 | 5 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 190, of which 190 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Regensburg](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/regensburg) (69.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ghent-vs-regensburg)
- [Antwerp](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/antwerp) (69.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/antwerp-vs-ghent)
- [Würzburg](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/wurzburg) (69) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ghent-vs-wurzburg)
- [Münster](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/munster) (69.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ghent-vs-munster)
- [Hamburg](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/hamburg) (68.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/ghent-vs-hamburg)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $2,459 per month in Ghent. That is a 25/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Ghent safe for digital nomads?

Ghent scores 73/100 on safety. Belgium records 1.08 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 68.6/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Belgium have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Belgium as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay 90 days visa-free.

### How fast is the internet in Ghent?

Measured median download speed in Ghent was 65.2 Mbps (upload 18.3 Mbps) across 19,290 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 Ghent?

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

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

Ghent is served by Brussels Airport (BRU) with 190 nonstop destinations, of which 190 are international. 5 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are Jun, Jul, Aug. Mean temperatures range from 37°F (3°C) in Jan to 65°F (18°C) in Jul (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Ghent or Regensburg: which is better for digital nomads?

Regensburg is the city with the closest factor profile to Ghent 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 Ghent](https://navoy.io/hotels/belgium/ghent) 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]: WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/cities (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]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^5]: 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)
[^6]: 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)
[^7]: 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)
[^8]: 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)
[^9]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^10]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^11]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^12]: 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)
[^13]: 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)
[^14]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^16]: 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)
[^17]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)
[^18]: 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)
[^19]: 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/ghent