---
title: "Living in Santo Domingo as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/santo-domingo
description: "Caribbean capital with the oldest colonial quarter"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo scores 51.6/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 248 of 309 cities. Expect about $1,146 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 11.8 Mbps.

Santo Domingo has the Americas' oldest European quarter, a metro and Caribbean beaches within reach. Some districts need care after dark.

Known for: Zona Colonial, Caribbean beaches nearby, Merengue, Safety varies.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 51.6 |
| Cost of living | 61 |
| Safety | 48 |
| Healthcare | 65 |
| Internet | 39 |
| Visa ease | 33 |
| Getting there & around | 20 |
| Climate | 100 |
| Air quality | 46 |
| Quality of life | 52 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,146 | 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) | 19.5 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 76 | country | 2024 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 73 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 73.3 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 11.8 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 5.5 | 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 (SDQ) | 36 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 2 / 3 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 12 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 29.3 | city | 2021 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.776 | country | 2023 | [^16] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^17] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 24.7 | 24 | 75 | yes |
| Feb | 24.9 | 21 | 73 | yes |
| Mar | 25.4 | 22 | 70 | yes |
| Apr | 26.3 | 40 | 71 | yes |
| May | 26.8 | 68 | 75 | yes |
| Jun | 27.4 | 48 | 76 | yes |
| Jul | 27.6 | 55 | 76 | yes |
| Aug | 27.8 | 68 | 77 | yes |
| Sep | 27.7 | 60 | 77 | yes |
| Oct | 27.2 | 64 | 79 | yes |
| Nov | 26.1 | 68 | 78 | yes |
| Dec | 25.2 | 42 | 77 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Las Américas International Airport | SDQ | 36 | 34 | 11 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 36, of which 34 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Lima](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/lima) (57.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/lima-vs-santo-domingo)
- [Casablanca](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/casablanca) (53.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/casablanca-vs-santo-domingo)
- [Bengaluru](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/bangalore) (48.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/bangalore-vs-santo-domingo)
- [Alexandria](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/alexandria) (44.8) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/alexandria-vs-santo-domingo)
- [Durban](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/durban) (51.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/durban-vs-santo-domingo)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $1,146 per month in Santo Domingo. That is a 61/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Santo Domingo safe for digital nomads?

Santo Domingo scores 48/100 on safety. Dominican Republic records 19.5 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 76/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Dominican Republic have a digital nomad visa?

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

### How fast is the internet in Santo Domingo?

Measured median download speed in Santo Domingo was 11.8 Mbps (upload 5.5 Mbps) across 25,118 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 Santo Domingo and how many nonstop flights are there?

Santo Domingo is served by Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) with 36 nonstop destinations, of which 34 are international. 11 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

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

The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 76°F (25°C) in Jan to 82°F (28°C) in Aug (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Santo Domingo or Lima: which is better for digital nomads?

Lima is the city with the closest factor profile to Santo Domingo 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/santo-domingo