Taipei
Taiwan · Asia · 2,494,813 people · Asia/Taipei · TWD
Taipei scores 69.7/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 29 of 309 cities. Expect about $1,719 per month, a nomad visa (Digital Nomad Visitor Visa), and a measured median download speed of 44.8 Mbps.
Taipei is one of the safest big cities anywhere, with superb transit, night markets and hiking trails minutes from downtown. Taiwan's Gold Card is a well-regarded route for skilled remote workers.
- Night markets
- Excellent MRT
- Mountain hikes from the metro
- Gold Card visa
How Taipei scores, factor by factor
Superscripts link to the source list at the bottom. Country-level figures apply to all of Taiwan.
Cost of living
Monthly cost for one person (log-scaled, cheaper is better).44
Safety
Homicide rate and political stability (country-level).89
Healthcare
WHO universal-health-coverage index and life expectancy (country-level).82
Internet
Median measured download and upload speed (M-Lab, city-level).69
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.69
Getting there & around
Non-stop airport destinations (hub size) plus editorial walkability and transit ratings.51
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.58
- Comfortable months: 7 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 0.86
- Annual mean PM2.5: 11.5 µg/m³15 · city-level, 2023
Quality of life
Human Development Index and English proficiency (country-level).81
What does Taipei cost per month?
| Total, one person | $1,719 | city, outskirts one-bedroom |
|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom rent, centre | no data | city-level rent unavailable |
| Country cost index (US = 100) | 43 | country |
Can you stay legally?
| Nomad visa | Digital Nomad Visitor Visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum income | $3,333/month | |
| US passport, visa-free | 90 days | |
| EU passport, visa-free | 90 days | |
| UK passport, visa-free | 90 days | |
Visa rules change often. Verify with the issuing government before you book.
Airports and nonstop flights
Taipei is served by 2 airports; a destination reachable from more than one counts once in the total.
| Airport | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
|---|---|---|---|
| TPETaoyuan International Airport | 104 | 97 | 11 |
| TSASongshan Airport | 15 | 9 | 0 |
| All airports, unique destinations | 113 | 100 | 11 |
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?
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean °F | 63 | 64 | 66 | 71 | 77 | 81 | 83 | 83 | 80 | 75 | 71 | 65 |
| Rain in | 3.9 | 3.6 | 5.2 | 5 | 9 | 10.3 | 6.4 | 10.4 | 9.9 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| Humidity % | 82 | 83 | 82 | 83 | 85 | 87 | 85 | 85 | 84 | 81 | 82 | 80 |
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
- Porto Portugal · 70.2
- Athens Greece · 69.8
- Lisbon Portugal · 71.5
- Valencia Spain · 70.1
- Rome Italy · 68.7
Also in Asia: Almaty, Bandung, Bengaluru, Bangkok, Busan, Canggu (Bali)
Where Taipei ranks
Frequently asked
- How much does it cost to live in Taipei as a digital nomad?
- A single person typically spends about $1,719 per month in Taipei. That is a 44/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.
- Is Taipei safe for digital nomads?
- Taipei scores 89/100 on safety. Taiwan records 0.8 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 81.6/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.
- Does Taiwan have a digital nomad visa?
- Yes. Taiwan offers the Digital Nomad Visitor Visa with a minimum income of about $3,333 per month. Verify current rules with the issuing authority before applying.
- How fast is the internet in Taipei?
- Measured median download speed in Taipei was 44.8 Mbps (upload 19.3 Mbps) across 50,962 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.
- Which airports serve Taipei and how many nonstop flights are there?
- Taipei is served by Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) with 104 nonstop destinations and Songshan Airport (TSA) with 15 nonstop destinations, 113 unique destinations across all of them, of which 100 are international. 11 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.
- When is the best time of year to be in Taipei?
- The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 63°F (17°C) in Jan to 83°F (28°C) in Jul (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).
- Taipei or Porto: which is better for digital nomads?
- Porto is the city with the closest factor profile to Taipei in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.
Sources
Dataset 2026.09.4, published 2026-09-26. Download the full dataset or read the methodology.
- 1.City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. City-proper figures; the per-city source URL is stored with the seed row.
- 2.WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. The '~$X/mo' single-person estimate published on each city page (the API only exposes countries). Scaled to the WhereToEmigrate basket by the median ratio observed on cities both sources cover, so figures are comparable across the dataset; the scaling factor is recorded in the value's note on /methodology.
- 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).
- 4.2026 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.Intentional homicide rate, Taiwan (National Police Agency via Wikipedia), Wikipedia, citing Taiwan National Police Agency. CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Taiwan is not covered by WHO GHO.
- 6.Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. 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). Retrieved 2026-09-22.
- 8.Life expectancy at birth, Taiwan (Ministry of the Interior), Taiwan Ministry of the Interior, Department of Statistics. Open Government Data License, Taiwan. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Taiwan is not covered by WHO GHO; figure transcribed from the MOI abridged life table.
- 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.Taiwan Digital Nomad Visitor Visa, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan). Official programme page; cited as a fact. Retrieved 2026-09-26. Eligibility limited to visa-exempt nationals; income US$40,000/yr (age 30+) or US$20,000/yr (20–29); average balance US$10,000 over six months. Page updated 2026-08-07.
- 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.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.Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Judgment ratings, not measurements. Explained on /methodology.
- 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.Annual mean PM2.5, Taipei (Taiwan Ministry of Environment), Taiwan Ministry of Environment. Open Government Data License, Taiwan. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Taiwan is not in the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database.
- 16.Human Development Index, Taiwan (DGBAS calculation), Taiwan Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. Open Government Data License, Taiwan. Retrieved 2026-09-22. UNDP does not publish an HDI for Taiwan; DGBAS applies the same method.
- 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.