---
title: "Living in Portland as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/portland
description: "Bikes, breweries and a slower pace"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Portland, United States

Portland scores 58.9/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 183 of 309 cities. Expect about $3,163 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 66.6 Mbps.

Portland is the most bikeable big US city, with food carts, breweries and no sales tax. It is cheaper than Seattle, though rents have climbed.

Known for: Bikeable, Craft beer and food carts, No sales tax, Grey winters.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 58.9 |
| Cost of living | 17 |
| Safety | 54 |
| Healthcare | 79 |
| Internet | 74 |
| Visa ease | 53 |
| Getting there & around | 36 |
| Climate | 25 |
| Air quality | 98 |
| Quality of life | 95 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $3,163 | city | 2024 | [^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) | 5.8 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 64.3 | country | 2024 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 88 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 76.4 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 66.6 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 11.7 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | unlimited / visa or e-visa required / visa or e-visa required | editorial | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (PDX) | 40 | city | 2026-08 | [^12] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 4 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 3 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 5.8 | city | 2022 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.938 | country | 2023 | [^16] |
| English proficiency band | native | country | 2024 | [^17] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 3.6 | 216 | 92 | no |
| Feb | 4.1 | 144 | 89 | no |
| Mar | 6.3 | 178 | 87 | no |
| Apr | 8.5 | 119 | 84 | no |
| May | 12.2 | 79 | 82 | no |
| Jun | 14.9 | 55 | 80 | no |
| Jul | 18.9 | 11 | 70 | yes |
| Aug | 19.7 | 20 | 65 | yes |
| Sep | 16.5 | 57 | 68 | yes |
| Oct | 10.9 | 137 | 80 | no |
| Nov | 6.1 | 217 | 89 | no |
| Dec | 3.1 | 251 | 92 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Portland International Airport | PDX | 40 | 3 | 35 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 40, of which 3 international (Wikipedia, 2026-08).

## Similar cities

- [Salt Lake City](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/salt-lake-city) (60.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/portland-vs-salt-lake-city)
- [Denver](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/denver) (60.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/denver-vs-portland)
- [Seattle](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/seattle) (60.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/portland-vs-seattle)
- [Las Vegas](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/las-vegas) (58.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/las-vegas-vs-portland)
- [Minneapolis](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/minneapolis) (61.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/minneapolis-vs-portland)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $3,163 per month in Portland. That is a 17/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Portland safe for digital nomads?

Portland 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 Portland?

Measured median download speed in Portland was 66.6 Mbps (upload 11.7 Mbps) across 198,886 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 Portland and how many nonstop flights are there?

Portland is served by Portland International Airport (PDX) with 40 nonstop destinations, of which 3 are international. 35 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-08.

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

The most comfortable months are Jul, Aug, Sep. Mean temperatures range from 38°F (3°C) in Dec to 67°F (20°C) in Aug (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Portland or Salt Lake City: which is better for digital nomads?

Salt Lake City is the city with the closest factor profile to Portland 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]: Regional Price Parities by metropolitan area, 2024 (all items), US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Public domain (US Government). https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area (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/portland