---
title: "Living in Mumbai as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/mumbai
description: "India's commercial and film capital"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Mumbai, India

Mumbai scores 38.3/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 300 of 309 cities. Expect about $1,198 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 28.9 Mbps.

Mumbai is India's most cosmopolitan city with a deep job market and coastal neighbourhoods like Bandra. It is dense, humid and surprisingly expensive to rent in.

Known for: Bollywood and finance, Street food, Sea-facing districts, Extreme density and rents.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 38.3 |
| Cost of living | 59 |
| Safety | 49 |
| Healthcare | 53 |
| Internet | 59 |
| Visa ease | 6 |
| Getting there & around | 38 |
| Climate | 42 |
| Air quality | 1 |
| Quality of life | 38 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,198 | 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) | 3.6 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 52.5 | country | 2024 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 69 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 67.3 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 28.9 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 12.3 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | visa or e-visa required / visa or e-visa required / visa or e-visa required | editorial | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (BOM) | 129 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 2 / 4 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 5 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 49.5 | city | 2021 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.685 | country | 2023 | [^16] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^17] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 23.2 | 0 | 51 | yes |
| Feb | 25.7 | 2 | 44 | yes |
| Mar | 28.7 | 5 | 45 | no |
| Apr | 30.7 | 3 | 53 | no |
| May | 31.2 | 22 | 60 | no |
| Jun | 28.7 | 535 | 80 | no |
| Jul | 26.6 | 834 | 90 | no |
| Aug | 26.1 | 606 | 90 | no |
| Sep | 26.2 | 376 | 89 | no |
| Oct | 26.2 | 104 | 78 | yes |
| Nov | 24.6 | 17 | 69 | yes |
| Dec | 23.3 | 5 | 60 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport | BOM | 129 | 51 | 2 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 129, of which 51 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [New Delhi](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/delhi) (41.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/delhi-vs-mumbai)
- [Hyderabad](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/hyderabad) (41.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/hyderabad-vs-mumbai)
- [Cairo](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cairo) (38.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/cairo-vs-mumbai)
- [Pune](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/pune) (39.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/mumbai-vs-pune)
- [Jakarta](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/jakarta) (43) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/jakarta-vs-mumbai)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $1,198 per month in Mumbai. That is a 59/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Mumbai safe for digital nomads?

Mumbai scores 49/100 on safety. India records 3.6 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 52.5/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does India have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for India as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay only with a visa, e-visa, eTA or visa on arrival days.

### How fast is the internet in Mumbai?

Measured median download speed in Mumbai was 28.9 Mbps (upload 12.3 Mbps) across 2,175,879 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 Mumbai and how many nonstop flights are there?

Mumbai is served by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) with 129 nonstop destinations, of which 51 are international. 2 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 74°F (23°C) in Jan to 88°F (31°C) in May (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Mumbai or New Delhi: which is better for digital nomads?

New Delhi is the city with the closest factor profile to Mumbai 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/mumbai