---
title: "Living in Hai Phong as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/hai-phong
description: "Vietnam's northern port city, two hours from Hanoi and Ha Long"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Hai Phong, Vietnam

Hai Phong scores 55.6/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 753 of 1000 cities. Expect about $900 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 18.9 Mbps.

Hai Phong is a working port city with a handsome French-era centre, good northern street food and an expressway to Hanoi about two hours away. It is cheap and almost without tourists, which also means few English speakers and no nomad scene; its draw is proximity to Cat Ba island and Ha Long Bay, and in 2025 it merged with Hai Duong province into a much larger municipality.

Known for: French colonial centre, Cat Ba island, Northern street food, Industrial port economy.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 55.6 |
| Cost of living | 64 |
| Safety | 68 |
| Healthcare | 67 |
| Internet | 60 |
| Visa ease | 35 |
| Getting there & around | 42 |
| Climate | 58 |
| Air quality | 48 |
| Quality of life | 58 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $900 | 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) | 1.9 | country | 2021 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 67.7 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 71 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 73.8 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 18.9 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 17.8 | 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 | e-visa required / 45 days / 45 days | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (HPH) | 15 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 96 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 3 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 7 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 28.2 | city | 2020 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.766 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | moderate | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 15.8 | 39 | 79 | yes |
| Feb | 17.7 | 25 | 81 | yes |
| Mar | 20.5 | 50 | 82 | yes |
| Apr | 24 | 69 | 82 | yes |
| May | 26.9 | 168 | 84 | no |
| Jun | 28.2 | 213 | 86 | no |
| Jul | 28.3 | 302 | 86 | no |
| Aug | 28 | 338 | 86 | no |
| Sep | 27.1 | 240 | 83 | no |
| Oct | 24.5 | 122 | 80 | yes |
| Nov | 21.1 | 51 | 79 | yes |
| Dec | 16.9 | 28 | 76 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cat Bi International Airport | HPH | 15 | 5 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 15, of which 5 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Ninh Binh](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/ninh-binh) (56) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/hai-phong-vs-ninh-binh)
- [Hanoi](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/hanoi) (56) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/hai-phong-vs-hanoi)
- [Coimbatore](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/coimbatore) (51) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/coimbatore-vs-hai-phong)
- [Nha Trang](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/nha-trang) (58.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/hai-phong-vs-nha-trang)
- [Samarkand](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/samarkand) (49) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/hai-phong-vs-samarkand)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $900 per month in Hai Phong (a country-level estimate for Vietnam). That is a 64/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Hai Phong safe for digital nomads?

Hai Phong scores 68/100 on safety. Vietnam records 1.9 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 67.7/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Vietnam have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Vietnam as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US need an e-visa, applied for online.

### How fast is the internet in Hai Phong?

Measured median download speed in Hai Phong was 18.9 Mbps (upload 17.8 Mbps) across 1,995 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 Hai Phong?

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

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

Hai Phong is served by Cat Bi International Airport (HPH) with 15 nonstop destinations, of which 5 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 60°F (16°C) in Jan to 83°F (28°C) in Jul (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Hai Phong or Ninh Binh: which is better for digital nomads?

Ninh Binh is the city with the closest factor profile to Hai Phong 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 Hai Phong](https://navoy.io/hotels/viet-nam/hai-phong) 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]: 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]: 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]: 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/hai-phong