---
title: "Living in Taipei as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/taipei
description: "Safe, efficient and surprisingly affordable"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Taipei, Taiwan

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.

Known for: Night markets, Excellent MRT, Mountain hikes from the metro, Gold Card visa.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 69.7 |
| Cost of living | 44 |
| Safety | 89 |
| Healthcare | 82 |
| Internet | 69 |
| Visa ease | 69 |
| Getting there & around | 51 |
| Climate | 58 |
| Air quality | 86 |
| Quality of life | 81 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,719 | 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) | 0.8 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 81.6 | country | 2024 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | — | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 80.2 | country | 2023 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 44.8 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 19.3 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | Digital Nomad Visitor Visa (min $3,333/mo) | country | 2026-08 | [^10] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | 90 days / 90 days / 90 days | editorial | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (TPE/TSA) | 113 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 5 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 7 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 11.5 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.926 | country | 2021 | [^16] |
| English proficiency band | moderate | country | 2024 | [^17] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 17 | 99 | 82 | yes |
| Feb | 17.8 | 92 | 83 | yes |
| Mar | 19.1 | 131 | 82 | yes |
| Apr | 21.9 | 126 | 83 | yes |
| May | 24.8 | 228 | 85 | no |
| Jun | 27 | 262 | 87 | no |
| Jul | 28.3 | 162 | 85 | no |
| Aug | 28.1 | 263 | 85 | no |
| Sep | 26.7 | 252 | 84 | no |
| Oct | 24.1 | 116 | 81 | yes |
| Nov | 21.8 | 115 | 82 | yes |
| Dec | 18.5 | 100 | 80 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Taoyuan International Airport | TPE | 104 | 97 | 11 |
| Songshan Airport | TSA | 15 | 9 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 113, of which 100 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Porto](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/porto) (70.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/porto-vs-taipei)
- [Athens](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/athens) (69.8) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/athens-vs-taipei)
- [Lisbon](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/lisbon) (71.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/lisbon-vs-taipei)
- [Valencia](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/valencia) (70.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/taipei-vs-valencia)
- [Rome](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/rome) (68.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/rome-vs-taipei)

## FAQ

### 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

[^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]: Intentional homicide rate, Taiwan (National Police Agency via Wikipedia), Wikipedia, citing Taiwan National Police Agency. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate (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, Taiwan (Ministry of the Interior), Taiwan Ministry of the Interior, Department of Statistics. Open Government Data License, Taiwan. https://www.moi.gov.tw/english/ (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]: Taiwan Digital Nomad Visitor Visa, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan). Official programme page; cited as a fact. https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-158-7718-c0382-2.html (retrieved 2026-09-26)
[^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]: Annual mean PM2.5, Taipei (Taiwan Ministry of Environment), Taiwan Ministry of Environment. Open Government Data License, Taiwan. https://airtw.moenv.gov.tw/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^16]: Human Development Index, Taiwan (DGBAS calculation), Taiwan Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. Open Government Data License, Taiwan. https://www.dgbas.gov.tw/ (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/taipei