---
title: "Living in Wollongong as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/wollongong
description: "Sydney's cheaper beach-and-escarpment neighbour, 85 km down the coast"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Wollongong, Australia

Wollongong scores 69/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 173 of 1000 cities. Expect about $3,350 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 48.5 Mbps.

Wollongong is a coastal city squeezed between the Illawarra escarpment and a string of surf beaches, 85 km south of Sydney with trains into the city in about 90 minutes. It is noticeably cheaper than Sydney and has a large university, but it is still a steel town at heart and nightlife and coworking are limited.

Known for: Surf beaches, Illawarra Escarpment, University of Wollongong, Train to Sydney in about 90 min.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 69 |
| Cost of living | 13 |
| Safety | 82 |
| Healthcare | 91 |
| Internet | 74 |
| Visa ease | 42 |
| Getting there & around | 64 |
| Climate | 58 |
| Air quality | 98 |
| Quality of life | 98 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $3,350 | 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) | 0.94 | country | 2024 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 79.3 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 89 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 83.1 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 48.5 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 16.9 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Available | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | eTA required (online, before travel) / eTA required (online, before travel) / eTA required (online, before travel) | country | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (WOL/SYD) | 85 | city | 2014 | [^12] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 68 | city | 2026-10 | [^16] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 3 / 3 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 7 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 5.8 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.958 | country | 2023 | [^17] |
| English proficiency band | native | country | 2024 | [^18] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 21.9 | 80 | 68 | yes |
| Feb | 20.6 | 142 | 75 | yes |
| Mar | 18.8 | 105 | 76 | yes |
| Apr | 16 | 71 | 77 | yes |
| May | 12.7 | 55 | 76 | no |
| Jun | 10.4 | 95 | 81 | no |
| Jul | 9.4 | 53 | 78 | no |
| Aug | 10.2 | 58 | 73 | no |
| Sep | 13.1 | 45 | 69 | no |
| Oct | 15.8 | 65 | 66 | yes |
| Nov | 18.3 | 84 | 67 | yes |
| Dec | 19.9 | 72 | 67 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Wollongong Airport | WOL | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport | SYD | 85 | 40 | 3 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 85, of which 40 international (OpenFlights 2014 snapshot).

## Similar cities

- [Geelong](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/geelong) (68.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/geelong-vs-wollongong)
- [Adelaide](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/adelaide) (67.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/adelaide-vs-wollongong)
- [Cairns](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cairns) (67) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/cairns-vs-wollongong)
- [Port Douglas](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/port-douglas) (66.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/port-douglas-vs-wollongong)
- [Melbourne](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/melbourne) (68.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/melbourne-vs-wollongong)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $3,350 per month in Wollongong (a country-level estimate for Australia). That is a 13/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Wollongong safe for digital nomads?

Wollongong scores 82/100 on safety. Australia records 0.94 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 79.3/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Australia have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Australia as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US need an electronic travel authorisation (eTA), bought online before the trip.

### How fast is the internet in Wollongong?

Measured median download speed in Wollongong was 48.5 Mbps (upload 16.9 Mbps) across 5,622 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.

### Is Starlink available in Wollongong?

Yes. Starlink's availability map lists residential service as available in Australia (checked 2026-10), so a dish can serve as a backup line in Wollongong. Check the exact address on starlink.com before ordering, since capacity varies by area.

### Which airports serve Wollongong and how many nonstop flights are there?

Wollongong is served by Wollongong Airport (WOL) with 0 nonstop destinations and Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) with 85 nonstop destinations, 85 unique destinations across all of them, of which 40 are international. 3 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: OpenFlights 2014 snapshot.

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

The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 49°F (9°C) in Jul to 71°F (22°C) in Jan (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Wollongong or Geelong: which is better for digital nomads?

Geelong is the city with the closest factor profile to Wollongong in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.

## Plan a trip

[Where to stay in Wollongong](https://navoy.io/hotels/australia/wollongong) on Navoy, the AI travel planner behind Nostos.

## 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]: Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, dataUNODC. UNODC data, free to reuse with attribution. https://data.unodc.org/datareport/hom-victim (retrieved 2026-10-12)
[^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]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^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]: OpenFlights airports and routes, OpenFlights.org. ODbL 1.0. https://openflights.org/data (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^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]: 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 2026-10-07)
[^16]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)
[^17]: 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)
[^18]: 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/wollongong