La Paz (Baja California Sur)
Mexico · Latin America · 250,141 people · America/Mazatlan · MXN
La Paz (Baja California Sur) scores 59.7/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 828 of 1501 cities. Expect about $1,400 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 26 Mbps.
La Paz is the quiet capital of Baja California Sur, on the Sea of Cortez with whale sharks in the bay and Balandra's beaches nearby. It is safer and far less touristy than Cabo, two hours south.
- Whale sharks
- Balandra beach
- Quieter than Cabo
- Desert and sea
Eating out
OpenStreetMap, 2026-1116127restaurants within 3 km
Mapped around the centre of La Paz (Baja California Sur): a modest scene, worth checking the neighbourhoods. A count of what is on the map, not a rating, and it does not affect the score.
How La Paz (Baja California Sur) scores, factor by factor
Superscripts link to the source list at the bottom. Country-level figures apply to all of Mexico.
Cost of living
Monthly cost for one person (log-scaled, cheaper is better).58
Safety
Homicide rate and political stability (country-level).28
Healthcare
WHO universal-health-coverage index and life expectancy (country-level).75
Internet
Median measured download and upload speed (M-Lab, city-level; the province or country aggregate where the city has too few tests).63
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. Averages US, EU and UK passports until you pick yours.90
Getting there & around
Non-stop airport destinations (hub size) plus editorial walkability and transit ratings.12
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.75
- Comfortable months: 9 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 0.79
- Annual mean PM2.5: 14.4 µg/m³15 · city-level, 2022
Quality of life
Human Development Index and English proficiency (country-level).57
What does La Paz (Baja California Sur) cost per month?
| Total, one person | $1,400 | country estimate |
|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom rent, centre | no data | city-level rent unavailable |
| Country cost index (US = 100) | 38 | country |
Can you stay legally?
| Nomad visa | none listed | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum income | — | |
| US passport | 180 days | |
| EU passport | 180 days | |
| UK passport | 180 days | |
Visa rules change often. Verify with the issuing government before you book.
Do you pay tax here on income from abroad?
Airports and nonstop flights
La Paz (Baja California Sur) is served by one airport.
| Airport | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAPLa Paz International Airport | 15 | 1 | 1 |
Wikipedia airport pages as of 2026-10: seasonal routes included, charters and announced-but-not-started routes excluded.
What is the weather like through the year?
Comfortable months by our rule: Oct–Jun. Rank cities for Dec–Feb →
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean °F | 67 | 67 | 69 | 71 | 74 | 78 | 83 | 85 | 84 | 80 | 74 | 68 |
| Rain in | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 2 | 3.9 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Humidity % | 64 | 61 | 57 | 55 | 54 | 56 | 58 | 61 | 67 | 64 | 64 | 65 |
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.
Where can you stay in La Paz (Baja California Sur)?
Three ways to live here, and what each does to the monthly budget. Rents are the one-bedroom figures from the cost table; hotels and short lets are priced per night and cost more, most of all in high season.
| Option | Rent per month | Monthly total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom outside the centre | — | — | No city-level cost here; the total is a national estimate. |
| One-bedroom in the centre | — | — | No city-level rent figure for this city. |
| Hotel or short let | — | — | For the first weeks or a stay under a month. Compare hotels on Navoy → |
Monthly rents assume an unfurnished lease of six months or more; furnished monthly lets usually cost 20 to 50 percent more.
Cities with a similar profile
- Colima Mexico · 59.7
- Torreón Mexico · 59.7
- Mazatlán Mexico · 61.5
- Huatulco Mexico · 60.1
- Acapulco Mexico · 59.8
Also in Latin America: Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Americana, Antigua Guatemala, Antofagasta, Arequipa
The vibe
What people post about living in La Paz (Baja California Sur), read for its mood. It is a reading of opinions, not a fact, and it is not part of the score.
Liked · 68Mostly positive: people praise the beaches, fresh food and friendly locals, but warn that living costs have risen sharply and the expat scene is pricey.
People praise
- beaches and clean water
- fresh food markets and produce
- friendly people
- scenery and sunsets
- affordable food prices
People warn about
- rising cost of living
- rents and prices doubled
- expat-heavy and pricey
- budget tight for modest incomes
- Beaches and fresh produce make it a rewarding place to live.
- Prices have climbed fast, so budgets need to be realistic.
- Expat community is large and can feel pricey and insular.
- Long-term residents say it grows on you after the hot season.
- Good base for nomads, but it is more expensive than before.
Read from 5 videos, 39 comments and 0 posts on 2026-11-08; the summary is written by a language model and can misread sarcasm.
Frequently asked
- How much does it cost to live in La Paz (Baja California Sur) as a digital nomad?
- A single person typically spends about $1,400 per month in La Paz (Baja California Sur) (a country-level estimate for Mexico). That is a 58/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.
- Is La Paz (Baja California Sur) safe for digital nomads?
- La Paz (Baja California Sur) scores 28/100 on safety. Mexico records 25.64 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 55/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.
- Does Mexico have a digital nomad visa?
- No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Mexico as of 2026-10-04. Visitors from the US can stay 180 days visa-free. The long-stay routes that do exist are in the Mexico visa guide: https://nostos.navoy.io/visas/mexico
- How fast is the internet in La Paz (Baja California Sur)?
- Measured median download speed in La Paz (Baja California Sur) was 26 Mbps (upload 12.6 Mbps) across 8,789 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 La Paz (Baja California Sur)?
- Yes. Starlink's availability map lists residential service as available in Mexico (checked 2026-10), so a dish can serve as a backup line in La Paz (Baja California Sur). Check the exact address on starlink.com before ordering, since capacity varies by area.
- Which airports serve La Paz (Baja California Sur) and how many nonstop flights are there?
- La Paz (Baja California Sur) is served by La Paz International Airport (LAP) with 15 nonstop destinations, of which 1 are international. 1 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-10.
- When is the best time of year to be in La Paz (Baja California Sur)?
- The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 67°F (19°C) in Jan to 85°F (29°C) in Aug (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).
- La Paz (Baja California Sur) or Colima: which is better for digital nomads?
- Colima is the city with the closest factor profile to La Paz (Baja California Sur) 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 2026.11.3, published 2026-11-10. Download the full dataset or read the methodology.
- 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.
- 2.2026 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.
- 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.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. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Police- or statistics-office-recorded rates reported to UNODC's crime-trends survey, latest year per country (2024 for most), both sexes, all ages; the United Kingdom uses England and Wales. Replaces the WHO modelled estimate wherever UNODC has a figure from 2018 or later; WHO's 2021 estimates ran several times above recorded figures for El Salvador and Honduras. Workbook data_cts_intentional_homicide.xlsx (July 2026) reduced by scripts/build-dataset/inputs/convert-unodc-homicide.py.
- 5.Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. 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). 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). Retrieved 2026-09-22.
- 8.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.
- 9.Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. Retrieved 2026-10-07. Residential service status per country from the file Starlink's map loads. Grouped as on the map: launched or available = available; coming soon, pending regulatory approval or test = coming soon; blacklisted = not offered; unknown or excluded = unknown. Shown on city pages and as a ranker filter; not part of any score. Roaming and maritime plans can work in more places.
- 10.Nostos long-stay visa guides, Navoy. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-04. One record per country in data/manual/visas/<iso2>.json, compiled into data/visa-guides.json. Each guide lists the official government pages it was compiled from with retrieval dates. A guide's `verification` field is set only when a named person has re-read every source; until then pages say the guide is not yet reviewed by a person.
- 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.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.Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Judgment ratings, not measurements. Explained on /methodology.
- 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.WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8), World Health Organization. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). Retrieved 2026-09-22. Annual mean PM2.5 for the most recent year available for the city.
- 16.OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Count of OpenStreetMap elements tagged amenity=restaurant within 3 km of the city centre coordinate. Measures how many restaurants are mapped, which tracks real density well where OpenStreetMap is well maintained (Europe, the Americas, East and Southeast Asia) and under-counts where it is not (parts of Africa and Central Asia).
- 17.Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
- 18.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.