NavoyNostos

New York City

United States · North America · 8,258,035 people · America/New_York · USD

New York City scores 63.9/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 114 of 309 cities. Expect about $3,377 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 69.2 Mbps.

New York offers the densest concentration of culture, jobs and people anywhere in the Americas, with a subway that runs all night. Rent is the highest in the country.

  • Everything, always
  • 24/7 subway
  • Job market
  • Highest rents in the US
64
Balanced score
out of 100

Rank 114 of 309

Rank with your own weights →

For US nomads

  • US passport entry
    home country
    no visa needed for a visit
  • Time vs New York
    same time as New York
    9h of a 9–6 day overlap with Eastern time
  • Time vs Los Angeles
    3 hours ahead of Los Angeles
    6h of a 9–6 day overlap with Pacific time
  • Non-stop from the US
    111 US airports
    domestic hub

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 New York City scores, factor by factor

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

Cost of living

Monthly cost for one person (log-scaled, cheaper is better).
14
  • Monthly cost, one person: $3,3772 · city-level, 2024
  • 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).
54
  • Homicide rate: 5.8 per 100k5 · country-level, 2021
  • Political stability: 64.3/1006 · country-level, 2024

Healthcare

WHO universal-health-coverage index and life expectancy (country-level).
79
  • UHC service coverage: 88/1007 · country-level, 2023
  • Life expectancy: 76.4 years8 · country-level, 2021

Internet

Median measured download and upload speed (M-Lab, city-level).
74
  • Median download: 69.2 Mbps9 · city-level, 2024
  • Median upload: 11.6 Mbps9 · city-level, 2024
  • Tests measured: 578,0379 · 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.
53
  • Nomad visa: none listed10
  • Visa-free, US passport: unlimited11 · country-level, 2026-02
  • Visa-free, EU passport: visa or e-visa required11 · country-level, 2026-02
  • Visa-free, UK passport: visa or e-visa required11 · country-level, 2026-02

Getting there & around

Non-stop airport destinations (hub size) plus editorial walkability and transit ratings.
77
  • Non-stop destinations from JFK/EWR/LGA: 26212 · city-level, 2026-09
  • Walkability: 5/513 · editorial, 2026-09
  • Public transit: 5/513 · 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.
33
  • Comfortable months: 4 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.
95
  • Annual mean PM2.5: 7.1 µg/m³15 · city-level, 2022

Quality of life

Human Development Index and English proficiency (country-level).
95
  • Human Development Index: 0.93816 · country-level, 2023
  • English proficiency: native17 · country-level, 2024

What does New York City cost per month?

Total, one person$3,377city, outskirts one-bedroom
One-bedroom rent, centreno datacity-level rent unavailable
Country cost index (US = 100)82country

Can you stay legally?

Nomad visanone listed
Minimum income—
US passport, visa-freeunlimited
EU passport, visa-freevisa or e-visa required
UK passport, visa-freevisa or e-visa required

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

Airports and nonstop flights

New York City is served by 3 airports; a destination reachable from more than one counts once in the total.

AirportNonstop destinationsInternationalFrom US airports
JFKJohn F. Kennedy International Airport1939672
EWRNewark Liberty International Airport1587463
LGALaGuardia Airport88781
All airports, unique destinations262122111

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 °F343540485868757569594940
Rain in3.93.74.44.244.54.54.53.84.945.2
Humidity %828181828483807877787982

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 North America: Asheville, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Calgary, Charleston

Where New York City ranks

Frequently asked

How much does it cost to live in New York City as a digital nomad?
A single person typically spends about $3,377 per month in New York City. That is a 14/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.
Is New York City safe for digital nomads?
New York City scores 54/100 on safety. United States records 5.8 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 64.3/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.
Does United States have a digital nomad visa?
No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for United States as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay unlimited days.
How fast is the internet in New York City?
Measured median download speed in New York City was 69.2 Mbps (upload 11.6 Mbps) across 578,037 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 New York City and how many nonstop flights are there?
New York City is served by John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) with 193 nonstop destinations; Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) with 158 nonstop destinations; LaGuardia Airport (LGA) with 88 nonstop destinations, 262 unique destinations across all of them, of which 122 are international. 111 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.
When is the best time of year to be in New York City?
The most comfortable months are Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep. Mean temperatures range from 34°F (1°C) in Jan to 75°F (24°C) in Jul (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).
New York City or Chicago: which is better for digital nomads?
Chicago is the city with the closest factor profile to New York City 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.Regional Price Parities by metropolitan area, 2024 (all items), US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Public domain (US Government). Retrieved 2026-09-22. US city cost = the national single-person estimate scaled by the metro's all-items RPP (US = 100). Input file: scripts/build-dataset/inputs/bea-marpp-msa-2008-2024.csv from https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/MARPP.zip.
  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.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). Retrieved 2026-09-22. WHO GHO data may be reused with attribution under WHO's data policy; see the /data page for the per-field license table.
  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 (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  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.Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Programme name, minimum monthly income (EUR, converted to USD) and whether it leads to permanent residence. Values are directional; verify with the issuing government.
  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.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. 16.Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  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.