NavoyNostos

Kaohsiung

Taiwan · Asia · 2,733,566 people · Asia/Taipei · TWD

Kaohsiung scores 62.9/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 123 of 309 cities. Expect about $1,615 per month, a nomad visa (Digital Nomad Visitor Visa), and a measured median download speed of 41.3 Mbps.

Kaohsiung is Taiwan's southern port city, warmer and cheaper than Taipei, with a harbour art district, a metro and a growing nomad scene. Taiwan's Gold Card is the usual long-stay route.

  • Pier-2 art district
  • Warm winters
  • Metro and light rail
  • Cheaper than Taipei
63
Balanced score
out of 100

Rank 123 of 309

Rank with your own weights →

For US nomads

  • US passport entry
    90 days visa-free
    no visa needed for a visit
  • Time vs New York
    12 hours ahead of New York
    0h of a 9–6 day overlap with Eastern time
  • Time vs Los Angeles
    15 hours ahead of Los Angeles
    0h of a 9–6 day overlap with Pacific time
  • Non-stop from the US
    0 US airports
    Wikipedia, 2026-09

Prices are in US dollars. US citizens are taxed on worldwide income; the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and state residency rules are worth a look before a long stay.

How Kaohsiung scores, factor by factor

Superscripts link to the source list at the bottom. Country-level figures apply to all of Taiwan.

Cost of living

Monthly cost for one person (log-scaled, cheaper is better).
46
  • Monthly cost, one person: $1,6152 · city-level, 2026-09
  • Central one-bedroom rent: no data3 · city-level, 2026-09 — no city-level rent row in the WhereToEmigrate dataset

Safety

Homicide rate and political stability (country-level).
89
  • Homicide rate: 0.8 per 100k5 · country-level, 2021
  • Political stability: 81.6/1006 · country-level, 2024

Healthcare

WHO universal-health-coverage index and life expectancy (country-level).
82
  • UHC service coverage: no data7 · country-level, 2021 — no WHO UHC_INDEX_REPORTED for TWN
  • Life expectancy: 80.2 years8 · country-level, 2023

Internet

Median measured download and upload speed (M-Lab, city-level).
67
  • Median download: 41.3 Mbps9 · city-level, 2024
  • Median upload: 17.8 Mbps9 · city-level, 2024
  • Tests measured: 10,3339 · city-level, 2024

Visa ease

How easily your passport gets in and stays: visa-free days, eTA, visa on arrival, e-visa or consular visa, plus a nomad visa and how affordable its income threshold is. Uses the US/EU/UK average until you pick a passport.
69
  • Nomad visa: Digital Nomad Visitor Visa10 · min income $3,333/mo
  • Visa-free, US passport: 90 days11 · country-level, 2026-02
  • Visa-free, EU passport: 90 days11 · country-level, 2026-02
  • Visa-free, UK passport: 90 days11 · country-level, 2026-02

Getting there & around

Non-stop airport destinations (hub size) plus editorial walkability and transit ratings.
30
  • Non-stop destinations from KHH: 012 · city-level, 2026-09
  • Walkability: 4/513 · editorial, 2026-09
  • Public transit: 4/513 · editorial, 2026-09

Climate

Share of months that are comfortable: 59–82°F (15–28 °C) mean, at most 5.9 in (150 mm) rain, at most 85% humidity.
58
  • Comfortable months: 7 of 1214 · city-level, 2001–2020 normals

Air quality

Annual mean PM2.5 on a fixed scale: 5 µg/m³ (WHO guideline) scores 100, 50 µg/m³ or worse scores 0.
44
  • Annual mean PM2.5: 30.3 µg/m³15 · city-level, 2023

Quality of life

Human Development Index and English proficiency (country-level).
81
  • Human Development Index: 0.92616 · country-level, 2021
  • English proficiency: moderate17 · country-level, 2024

What does Kaohsiung cost per month?

Total, one person$1,615city, outskirts one-bedroom
One-bedroom rent, centreno datacity-level rent unavailable
Country cost index (US = 100)43country

Can you stay legally?

Nomad visaDigital Nomad Visitor Visa
Minimum income$3,333/month
US passport, visa-free90 days
EU passport, visa-free90 days
UK passport, visa-free90 days

Visa rules change often. Verify with the issuing government before you book.

Airports and nonstop flights

Kaohsiung is served by one airport.

AirportNonstop destinationsInternationalFrom US airports
KHHKaohsiung International Airport000

Wikipedia airport pages as of 2026-09: seasonal routes included, charters and announced-but-not-started routes excluded.

What is the weather like through the year?

MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean °F707174778183858483817873
Rain in1.10.91.42.26.811.710.415.88.32.61.91.3
Humidity %767878808284828380767675

Green temperatures mark months that meet the comfort rule (59–82°F, ≤5.9 in rain, ≤85% humidity). NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology at the city coordinates.

Cities with a similar profile

Also in Asia: Almaty, Bandung, Bengaluru, Bangkok, Busan, Canggu (Bali)

Where Kaohsiung ranks

Frequently asked

How much does it cost to live in Kaohsiung as a digital nomad?
A single person typically spends about $1,615 per month in Kaohsiung. That is a 46/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.
Is Kaohsiung safe for digital nomads?
Kaohsiung scores 89/100 on safety. Taiwan records 0.8 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 81.6/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.
Does Taiwan have a digital nomad visa?
Yes. Taiwan offers the Digital Nomad Visitor Visa with a minimum income of about $3,333 per month. Verify current rules with the issuing authority before applying.
How fast is the internet in Kaohsiung?
Measured median download speed in Kaohsiung was 41.3 Mbps (upload 17.8 Mbps) across 10,333 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 Kaohsiung and how many nonstop flights are there?
Kaohsiung is served by Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH) with 0 nonstop destinations, of which 0 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.
When is the best time of year to be in Kaohsiung?
The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 70°F (21°C) in Jan to 85°F (29°C) in Jul (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).
Kaohsiung or Abu Dhabi: which is better for digital nomads?
Abu Dhabi is the city with the closest factor profile to Kaohsiung 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

Dataset 2026.09.4, published 2026-09-26. Download the full dataset or read the methodology.

  1. 1.City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. City-proper figures; the per-city source URL is stored with the seed row.
  2. 2.WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. The '~$X/mo' single-person estimate published on each city page (the API only exposes countries). Scaled to the WhereToEmigrate basket by the median ratio observed on cities both sources cover, so figures are comparable across the dataset; the scaling factor is recorded in the value's note on /methodology.
  3. 3.Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. monthly_cost_single_eur and rent_1br_center_eur, converted to USD at the ECB reference rate on the retrieval date (see ecb-frankfurter).
  4. 4.2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Country-level monthly estimate used only where no city-level figure exists; cost_index kept for every city.
  5. 5.Intentional homicide rate, Taiwan (National Police Agency via Wikipedia), Wikipedia, citing Taiwan National Police Agency. CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Taiwan is not covered by WHO GHO.
  6. 6.Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  7. 7.UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  8. 8.Life expectancy at birth, Taiwan (Ministry of the Interior), Taiwan Ministry of the Interior, Department of Statistics. Open Government Data License, Taiwan. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Taiwan is not covered by WHO GHO; figure transcribed from the MOI abridged life table.
  9. 9.M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Median of daily median download/upload throughput over 2024 for the city aggregate; sample count is the number of tests. Speeds reflect user-initiated tests, not advertised plans.
  10. 10.Taiwan Digital Nomad Visitor Visa, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan). Official programme page; cited as a fact. Retrieved 2026-09-26. Eligibility limited to visa-exempt nationals; income US$40,000/yr (age 30+) or US$20,000/yr (20–29); average balance US$10,000 over six months. Page updated 2026-08-07.
  11. 11.Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Days per visit where stated; 'visa free' without a limit is credited as unlimited; eTA, visa on arrival, e-visa and visa required are credited 0 days for scoring but shown by kind. The default US/EU/UK figures use the US, German and British passports.
  12. 12.Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-24. Distinct destination airports listed in each airport article's passenger table, resolved through Wikidata. Seasonal routes count; charters and routes announced but not yet flying are excluded. The as-of date is the newest article revision among the city's airports. Falls back to the OpenFlights snapshot when an airport has no article or table.
  13. 13.Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Judgment ratings, not measurements. Explained on /methodology.
  14. 14.NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). Retrieved 2026-09-22. T2M, PRECTOTCORR and RH2M at the city coordinates (0.5° grid). Monthly precipitation = mm/day × days in month.
  15. 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. Retrieved 2026-09-26. Annual 2023 PM2.5 for the 0.1° grid cell at the city centre, from satellite aerosol retrievals combined with a chemical transport model and ground monitors. Used only for cities with no WHO database row. Where the same country has WHO-measured cities, values are scaled by the median measured/satellite ratio there (corrects desert-dust overestimates in the Gulf). Across 247 cities with both, log-correlation with WHO values is 0.88 and the median difference 2 µg/m³.
  16. 16.Human Development Index, Taiwan (DGBAS calculation), Taiwan Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. Open Government Data License, Taiwan. Retrieved 2026-09-22. UNDP does not publish an HDI for Taiwan; DGBAS applies the same method.
  17. 17.EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Only the proficiency band is stored, transcribed by hand from the public ranking.