---
title: "Living in Yangon as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/yangon
description: "Myanmar's largest city, now largely off-limits under an ongoing civil conflict"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Yangon, Myanmar

Yangon scores 41.4/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 974 of 1000 cities. Expect about $820 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 8.1 Mbps.

Yangon is a sprawling former capital of colonial facades, tea shops and the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda. Since the 2021 military coup the country has been in armed conflict and most Western governments advise against all or non-essential travel, with frequent power cuts and internet restrictions; it is not a realistic remote-work base at present.

Known for: Shwedagon Pagoda, Colonial downtown, Tea shops and street food, Military rule since 2021.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 41.4 |
| Cost of living | 68 |
| Safety | 32 |
| Healthcare | 46 |
| Internet | 44 |
| Visa ease | 32 |
| Getting there & around | 43 |
| Climate | 42 |
| Air quality | 43 |
| Quality of life | 22 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $820 | 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) | 3.9 | country | 2022 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 28.5 | country | 2025 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 52 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 67.8 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 8.1 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 8 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Starlink residential service | Coming soon (Service date is unknown at this time) | country | 2026-10 | [^10] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^11] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | e-visa required / e-visa required / e-visa required | country | 2026-02 | [^12] |
| Non-stop destinations (RGN) | 29 | city | 2026-10 | [^13] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 651 | city | 2026-10 | [^17] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 2 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^14] |
| Comfortable months | 5 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^15] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 30.7 | city | 2023 | [^16] |
| Human Development Index | 0.609 | country | 2023 | [^18] |
| English proficiency band | very-low | country | 2024 | [^19] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 25.4 | 8 | 57 | yes |
| Feb | 27.6 | 1 | 46 | yes |
| Mar | 30.3 | 16 | 47 | no |
| Apr | 32.6 | 24 | 50 | no |
| May | 30.6 | 127 | 67 | no |
| Jun | 28.4 | 225 | 80 | no |
| Jul | 27.6 | 280 | 84 | no |
| Aug | 27.3 | 246 | 85 | no |
| Sep | 27.4 | 164 | 84 | no |
| Oct | 27.7 | 117 | 80 | yes |
| Nov | 27 | 20 | 73 | yes |
| Dec | 25.3 | 7 | 66 | yes |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Yangon International Airport | RGN | 29 | 28 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 29, of which 28 international (Wikipedia, 2026-10).

## Similar cities

- [Vientiane](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/vientiane) (48.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/vientiane-vs-yangon)
- [Pokhara](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/pokhara) (45.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/pokhara-vs-yangon)
- [Kathmandu](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/kathmandu) (47.2) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/kathmandu-vs-yangon)
- [Bhubaneswar](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/bhubaneswar) (46.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/bhubaneswar-vs-yangon)
- [Darjeeling](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/darjeeling) (47.3) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/darjeeling-vs-yangon)

## FAQ

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

A single person typically spends about $820 per month in Yangon. That is a 68/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Yangon safe for digital nomads?

Yangon scores 32/100 on safety. Myanmar records 3.9 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2022) and a political-stability score of 28.5/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Myanmar have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for Myanmar as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US need an e-visa, applied for online.

### How fast is the internet in Yangon?

Measured median download speed in Yangon was 8.1 Mbps (upload 8 Mbps) across 19,253 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 Yangon?

Not yet. Starlink's availability map lists Myanmar as coming soon (Service date is unknown at this time) as of 2026-10. Roaming plans may work for short stays, but local rules on using them vary.

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

Yangon is served by Yangon International Airport (RGN) with 29 nonstop destinations, of which 28 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-10.

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

The most comfortable months are Jan, Feb, Oct, Nov, Dec. Mean temperatures range from 78°F (25°C) in Dec to 91°F (33°C) in Apr (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Yangon or Vientiane: which is better for digital nomads?

Vientiane is the city with the closest factor profile to Yangon 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 Yangon](https://navoy.io/hotels/myanmar/yangon) 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]: 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]: 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)
[^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]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^11]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^12]: 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)
[^13]: 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)
[^14]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^16]: 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)
[^17]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)
[^18]: 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)
[^19]: 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/yangon