---
title: "Living in Oaxaca City as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/oaxaca
description: "Food, mezcal and colonial calm"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Oaxaca City, Mexico

Oaxaca City scores 52.1/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 245 of 309 cities. Expect about $1,400 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 18.8 Mbps.

Oaxaca is Mexico's food and craft capital: a colonial centre, mild climate and low costs. The nomad community is small and internet is slower than in the big cities.

Known for: Culinary capital, Mezcal, Indigenous crafts, Small-city pace.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 52.1 |
| Cost of living | 52 |
| Safety | 23 |
| Healthcare | 65 |
| Internet | 47 |
| Visa ease | 90 |
| Getting there & around | 22 |
| Climate | 42 |
| Air quality | 74 |
| Quality of life | 54 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,400 | country | 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) | 28.2 | country | 2021 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 53.7 | country | 2024 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 79 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 70.8 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 18.8 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 5 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^9] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | 180 days / 180 days / 180 days | editorial | 2026-02 | [^10] |
| Non-stop destinations (OAX) | 14 | city | 2026-08 | [^11] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Comfortable months | 5 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^13] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 16.5 | city | 2023 | [^14] |
| Human Development Index | 0.789 | country | 2023 | [^15] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^16] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 14 | 7 | 68 | no |
| Feb | 16 | 6 | 61 | yes |
| Mar | 17.9 | 13 | 57 | yes |
| Apr | 20 | 32 | 55 | yes |
| May | 19.9 | 73 | 64 | yes |
| Jun | 18.2 | 198 | 78 | no |
| Jul | 17.2 | 151 | 81 | no |
| Aug | 17.2 | 169 | 82 | no |
| Sep | 16.9 | 203 | 85 | no |
| Oct | 15.9 | 100 | 83 | yes |
| Nov | 14.3 | 18 | 79 | no |
| Dec | 14.1 | 8 | 73 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oaxaca International Airport | OAX | 14 | 3 | 3 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 14, of which 3 international (Wikipedia, 2026-08).

## Similar cities

- [Guanajuato](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/guanajuato) (55.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/guanajuato-vs-oaxaca)
- [Puebla](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/puebla) (56.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/oaxaca-vs-puebla)
- [Cancún](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cancun) (57.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/cancun-vs-oaxaca)
- [San Miguel de Allende](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/san-miguel-de-allende) (56.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/oaxaca-vs-san-miguel-de-allende)
- [Querétaro](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/queretaro) (55.8) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/oaxaca-vs-queretaro)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $1,400 per month in Oaxaca City (a country-level estimate for Mexico). That is a 52/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Oaxaca City safe for digital nomads?

Oaxaca City scores 23/100 on safety. Mexico records 28.2 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 53.7/100 (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 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay 180 days visa-free.

### How fast is the internet in Oaxaca City?

Measured median download speed in Oaxaca City was 18.8 Mbps (upload 5 Mbps) across 20,399 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 Oaxaca City and how many nonstop flights are there?

Oaxaca City is served by Oaxaca International Airport (OAX) with 14 nonstop destinations, of which 3 are international. 3 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-08.

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

The most comfortable months are Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Oct. Mean temperatures range from 57°F (14°C) in Jan to 68°F (20°C) in Apr (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Oaxaca City or Guanajuato: which is better for digital nomads?

Guanajuato is the city with the closest factor profile to Oaxaca 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

[^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]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (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]: 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)
[^5]: 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)
[^6]: 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)
[^7]: 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)
[^8]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^9]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^10]: 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)
[^11]: 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)
[^12]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^13]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^14]: SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04), Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis. CC BY 4.0. https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/surface-pm2-5/ (retrieved 2026-09-26)
[^15]: 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)
[^16]: 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/oaxaca