---
title: "Living in Manila as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/manila
description: "Megacity gateway to the Philippines"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Manila, Philippines

Manila scores 46.6/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 268 of 309 cities. Expect about $1,042 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 26.9 Mbps.

Manila's Bonifacio Global City and Makati offer a modern, English-speaking base at low cost. Traffic is among the worst anywhere and typhoon season floods streets.

Known for: English everywhere, BGC and Makati, Very cheap, Traffic and floods.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 46.6 |
| Cost of living | 65 |
| Safety | 33 |
| Healthcare | 51 |
| Internet | 56 |
| Visa ease | 33 |
| Getting there & around | 22 |
| Climate | 25 |
| Air quality | 77 |
| Quality of life | 57 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,042 | 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) | 12.7 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 52.7 | country | 2024 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 69 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 66.4 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 26.9 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 7.8 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | 30 days / 30 days / 30 days | editorial | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (MNL) | 85 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 1 / 3 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 3 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 15.4 | city | 2020 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.72 | country | 2023 | [^16] |
| English proficiency band | high | country | 2024 | [^17] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 23.5 | 148 | 86 | no |
| Feb | 24 | 148 | 84 | yes |
| Mar | 25.4 | 119 | 80 | yes |
| Apr | 27.2 | 102 | 76 | yes |
| May | 27.9 | 171 | 78 | no |
| Jun | 27.1 | 248 | 84 | no |
| Jul | 26.3 | 312 | 87 | no |
| Aug | 26.2 | 289 | 88 | no |
| Sep | 26.2 | 301 | 88 | no |
| Oct | 25.8 | 341 | 88 | no |
| Nov | 25.2 | 345 | 89 | no |
| Dec | 24.3 | 393 | 89 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ninoy Aquino International Airport | MNL | 85 | 59 | 6 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 85, of which 59 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Davao City](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/davao) (44.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/davao-vs-manila)
- [Cebu City](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cebu) (42.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/cebu-vs-manila)
- [Sarajevo](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/sarajevo) (53.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/manila-vs-sarajevo)
- [Yogyakarta](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/yogyakarta) (46.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/manila-vs-yogyakarta)
- [Bandung](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/bandung) (39.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/bandung-vs-manila)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $1,042 per month in Manila. That is a 65/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Manila safe for digital nomads?

Manila scores 33/100 on safety. Philippines records 12.7 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 52.7/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Philippines have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Philippines as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay 30 days visa-free.

### How fast is the internet in Manila?

Measured median download speed in Manila was 26.9 Mbps (upload 7.8 Mbps) across 241,490 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 Manila and how many nonstop flights are there?

Manila is served by Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) with 85 nonstop destinations, of which 59 are international. 6 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are Feb, Mar, Apr. Mean temperatures range from 74°F (24°C) in Jan to 82°F (28°C) in May (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Manila or Davao City: which is better for digital nomads?

Davao City is the city with the closest factor profile to Manila 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

[^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]: 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)
[^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]: 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]: 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)
[^17]: 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/manila