North America · 93 cities
United States for digital nomads: 93 cities compared (2026)
United States has 93 cities in the dataset. Honolulu scores highest under balanced weights at 71/100; New Orleans is the cheapest with a city-level price at $2,778 a month. United States has no digital-nomad visa.
Dataset 2026.10.7. How scoring works.
Cities in United States, ranked
Balanced weights, every factor equal. Open a city for the full breakdown with sources, or rank them with your own weights.
| # | City | Score | Cost/mo | Internet | Comfortable months | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honolulu Island living with US infrastructure | 71 | $3,329 | 65.1 Mbps | 12/12 | Beaches and surf · Year-round warmth |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale Beach-and-canal city with Brightline trains and a budget-flight airport | 69 | $3,000* | 85 Mbps | 8/12 | Fort Lauderdale Beach · Canals and yachts |
| 3 | Sarasota Cultured Gulf-coast town with Siesta Key's quartz sand and a retiree majority | 69 | $3,000* | 117.4 Mbps | 8/12 | Siesta Key beach · Ringling Museum |
| 4 | St. Petersburg (Florida) Sunny Gulf-coast city with Florida's most walkable downtown and the Dalí Museum | 69 | $3,000* | 112.5 Mbps | 8/12 | Dalí Museum · Central Avenue arts district |
| 5 | Key West End-of-the-road island town of Hemingway, conch houses and sunset parties | 68 | $3,000* | 103.4 Mbps | 8/12 | Duval Street · Mallory Square sunsets |
| 6 | Irvine Master-planned Orange County suburb: safe, clean, expensive and car-dependent | 68 | $3,000* | 131.9 Mbps | 8/12 | UC Irvine · Master-planned villages |
| 7 | West Palm Beach Palm Beach's mainland downtown with Brightline trains and hedge funds moving in | 68 | $3,000* | 101.1 Mbps | 8/12 | Clematis Street and the waterfront · Brightline to Miami |
| 8 | Washington DC Museums, power and a great Metro | 68 | $3,267 | 59.9 Mbps | 5/12 | Free museums · Metro system |
| 9 | Miami Latin gateway with beaches and a crypto scene | 68 | $3,425 | 74.8 Mbps | 8/12 | Beaches · Latin American hub |
| 10 | Orlando Theme-park capital with cheap flights everywhere | 68 | $3,043 | 75.4 Mbps | 8/12 | Theme parks · Busy airport with cheap fares |
| 11 | Naples (Florida) Wealthy Gulf retreat with white beaches, golf courses and the Everglades next door | 67 | $3,000* | 116.8 Mbps | 8/12 | Naples Pier and beaches · Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands |
| 12 | Boston Walkable, historic and full of universities | 67 | $3,248 | 72.6 Mbps | 4/12 | Universities and biotech · Walkable |
| 13 | New York City The city that never sleeps, at a price that never sleeps either | 67 | $3,377 | 69.2 Mbps | 4/12 | Everything, always · 24/7 subway |
| 14 | Raleigh Research Triangle tech and a mild climate | 67 | $2,945 | 106.7 Mbps | 7/12 | Tech and research · Universities |
| 15 | Tampa Gulf Coast sun and beaches | 67 | $3,027 | 74.4 Mbps | 8/12 | Beaches · No state income tax |
| 16 | Durham Research Triangle city of Duke, biotech labs and a tobacco-warehouse downtown | 67 | $3,000* | 94.3 Mbps | 7/12 | Duke University · Research Triangle Park |
| 17 | Philadelphia Walkable history at East Coast prices minus New York | 67 | $3,077 | 59.1 Mbps | 5/12 | Walkable · History |
| 18 | Atlanta Southern hub with a huge airport and low rents | 67 | $3,002 | 57.4 Mbps | 7/12 | World's busiest airport · Affordable for a big city |
| 19 | Boulder Flatirons trailheads and a college-town tech scene | 67 | $3,000* | 119.2 Mbps | 4/12 | Flatirons trails · Pearl Street Mall |
| 20 | Chicago America's great architecture city on the lake | 67 | $3,108 | 73.5 Mbps | 4/12 | Architecture · Lakefront |
| 21 | Fort Myers Fast-growing Gulf-coast hub with a historic River District and the RSW airport | 67 | $3,000* | 94.5 Mbps | 8/12 | River District downtown · Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach |
| 22 | Savannah Spanish moss, cobbled squares and Atlantic beaches | 67 | $3,000* | 90.9 Mbps | 7/12 | Historic squares · SCAD art school |
| 23 | Oakland The Bay Area's sunnier, grittier side, a 15-minute BART ride from San Francisco | 66 | $3,000* | 57.8 Mbps | 5/12 | Lake Merritt · BART to San Francisco in 15 minutes |
| 24 | Charlotte Banking hub with a big hub airport | 66 | $2,920 | 54.9 Mbps | 7/12 | Second-largest US banking centre · Hub airport |
| 25 | Flagstaff High-altitude pine-forest town 90 minutes from the Grand Canyon | 66 | $3,000* | 92.3 Mbps | 5/12 | Grand Canyon about 90 minutes away · Lowell Observatory and dark skies |
| 26 | Santa Barbara Spanish-colonial beach town between mountains and the Pacific | 66 | $3,000* | 105.8 Mbps | 7/12 | Mission-style architecture · State Street |
| 27 | Santa Cruz (California) Surf town on Monterey Bay, over the hill from Silicon Valley | 66 | $3,000* | 89.8 Mbps | 5/12 | Surfing · Beach Boardwalk |
| 28 | Los Angeles Sun, entertainment and endless sprawl | 66 | $3,407 | 66.9 Mbps | 8/12 | Beaches and hikes · Film and tech |
| 29 | San Diego Perfect weather and beaches, year-round | 66 | $3,357 | 99.4 Mbps | 7/12 | Best US climate · Beaches |
| 30 | San Francisco The tech capital, compact and hilly | 66 | $3,468 | 59.7 Mbps | 5/12 | Tech and AI · Walkable neighbourhoods |
| 31 | Chattanooga The Gig City: municipal fibre, river trails and climbing crags | 66 | $3,000* | 111.5 Mbps | 7/12 | EPB gigabit fibre · Riverfront and Walnut Street Bridge |
| 32 | Fort Worth Cowtown with a walkable downtown, world-class museums and the DFW hub next door | 66 | $3,000* | 98.4 Mbps | 5/12 | Stockyards and rodeo · Kimbell and Modern art museums |
| 33 | Scottsdale Metro Phoenix's upscale golf-and-spa suburb with a lively Old Town | 66 | $3,000* | 118.8 Mbps | 5/12 | Old Town bars and galleries · Golf and spa resorts |
| 34 | Baltimore Harbour city with rowhouses and cheap rents near DC | 65 | $3,000* | 72.8 Mbps | 5/12 | Inner Harbor · Johns Hopkins |
| 35 | Houston Diverse, affordable and enormous | 65 | $2,959 | 74.5 Mbps | 7/12 | Diversity and food · Energy and medical jobs |
| 36 | Charleston Historic port city with beaches and a famous food scene | 65 | $3,029 | 89.6 Mbps | 6/12 | Historic district · Beaches 20 min |
| 37 | Minneapolis Lakes, bikes and a strong job market | 65 | $3,145 | 71.3 Mbps | 4/12 | Lakes and parks · Bikeable |
| 38 | Pittsburgh Affordable, hilly and quietly innovative | 65 | $2,840 | 71.3 Mbps | 5/12 | Robotics and AI · Rivers and bridges |
| 39 | Ann Arbor Big Ten college town with a dense, walkable core and long Michigan winters | 65 | $3,000* | 94.2 Mbps | 4/12 | University of Michigan · Walkable downtown |
| 40 | Colorado Springs Pikes Peak trail city with a big military and Olympic-training footprint | 65 | $3,000* | 102.7 Mbps | 4/12 | Garden of the Gods · Pikes Peak |
| 41 | Austin Tech-town Texas with live music | 65 | $2,942 | 87 Mbps | 6/12 | Tech industry · Live music |
| 42 | Dallas Big Texas hub with no state income tax | 65 | $3,093 | 56.4 Mbps | 5/12 | Jobs and airports · No income tax |
| 43 | Richmond Virginia's capital with river rapids, murals and a strong food scene | 65 | $3,000* | 69.5 Mbps | 6/12 | James River Park · Street murals and breweries |
| 44 | New Orleans Music, food and a walkable French Quarter | 65 | $2,778 | 52.4 Mbps | 6/12 | Jazz and Creole food · Walkable historic core |
| 45 | Salt Lake City Mountains at the end of every street | 65 | $3,026 | 81.1 Mbps | 4/12 | Ski resorts 30 minutes away · Outdoor lifestyle |
| 46 | Virginia Beach Long Atlantic beach, military bases and suburban sprawl | 65 | $3,000* | 100.8 Mbps | 6/12 | Oceanfront boardwalk · Naval bases |
| 47 | Nashville Music city booming with newcomers | 65 | $2,890 | 65.6 Mbps | 6/12 | Live music · Growing tech scene |
| 48 | Seattle Tech giant city between mountains and sound | 65 | $3,334 | 59.6 Mbps | 4/12 | Amazon and Microsoft · Mountains and water |
| 49 | San Antonio Texas's most affordable big city, with the River Walk | 64 | $2,841 | 88.1 Mbps | 6/12 | River Walk · The Alamo |
| 50 | Sedona Red-rock tourist town of trails, galleries and New Age energy | 64 | $3,000* | 76.8 Mbps | 5/12 | Red rock buttes · Hiking and mountain biking |
| 51 | Jacksonville Florida's sprawling river city with Atlantic beaches and no state income tax | 64 | $3,000* | 67.4 Mbps | 6/12 | Jacksonville Beach · St. Johns River |
| 52 | Portland Bikes, breweries and a slower pace | 64 | $3,163 | 66.6 Mbps | 3/12 | Bikeable · Craft beer and food carts |
| 53 | Providence Compact Ivy League city with a strong food scene, an hour from Boston | 64 | $3,000* | 83.8 Mbps | 4/12 | Brown University and RISD · Federal Hill Italian food |
| 54 | Sacramento California's capital at half the Bay Area's rent | 64 | $3,200 | 46.9 Mbps | 6/12 | Farm-to-fork food · Tahoe 2h |
| 55 | St. Louis Gateway Arch, cheap brick housing and a free zoo in Forest Park | 64 | $3,000* | 76.1 Mbps | 5/12 | Gateway Arch · Forest Park |
| 56 | Cincinnati Ohio River hills, German brewing heritage and a revived downtown | 64 | $3,000* | 88.1 Mbps | 5/12 | Over-the-Rhine · Procter & Gamble and Kroger |
| 57 | Denver Mountain access and a growing tech base | 64 | $3,173 | 70.2 Mbps | 4/12 | Rocky Mountains · 300 sunny days |
| 58 | Greenville (South Carolina) Small Southern city with a waterfall park downtown and the Blue Ridge nearby | 64 | $3,000* | 97.4 Mbps | 6/12 | Falls Park on the Reedy · Swamp Rabbit Trail |
| 59 | Myrtle Beach Budget Atlantic beach city on the Grand Strand, built for tourists | 64 | $3,000* | 112 Mbps | 5/12 | Grand Strand beaches · Golf courses |
| 60 | Park City Ski-resort town 40 minutes from Salt Lake City, home of Sundance in January | 64 | $3,000* | 98 Mbps | 2/12 | Park City Mountain and Deer Valley · Sundance Film Festival |
| 61 | Madison Lakeside university city with a strong bike culture | 64 | $3,000* | 105.7 Mbps | 4/12 | Isthmus between lakes · University of Wisconsin |
| 62 | Knoxville University town at the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains | 64 | $3,000* | 94.2 Mbps | 6/12 | University of Tennessee · Great Smoky Mountains |
| 63 | San Luis Obispo Laid-back Central Coast college town between vineyards and the sea | 64 | $3,000* | 91.2 Mbps | 6/12 | Cal Poly · Thursday farmers market |
| 64 | Memphis Blues and barbecue on the Mississippi, with very low rents | 64 | $3,000* | 56.2 Mbps | 7/12 | Beale Street · Graceland |
| 65 | Asheville Blue Ridge mountain town of breweries and trails | 63 | $2,895 | 100.2 Mbps | 5/12 | Blue Ridge Parkway · Craft beer capital |
| 66 | Kansas City Barbecue, jazz and some of the cheapest US fibre | 63 | $3,000* | 77.7 Mbps | 5/12 | Barbecue and jazz · Google Fiber city |
| 67 | Santa Fe Adobe art capital at 7,000 feet | 63 | $2,963 | 76.9 Mbps | 5/12 | Art galleries and markets · Adobe architecture |
| 68 | Columbus Ohio's booming capital with a big university and low rents | 63 | $3,000* | 85.3 Mbps | 5/12 | Ohio State University · Short North arts district |
| 69 | Buffalo Cheap Great Lakes city with grand architecture, 30 km from Niagara Falls | 63 | $3,000* | 84.4 Mbps | 4/12 | Niagara Falls nearby · Buffalo wings |
| 70 | Cleveland Lake Erie rust-belt city with cheap rents and a world-class orchestra | 63 | $3,000* | 81.3 Mbps | 4/12 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame · Cleveland Clinic |
| 71 | Louisville Bourbon, the Derby and leafy Victorian streets on the Ohio River | 63 | $3,000* | 90.2 Mbps | 5/12 | Kentucky Derby · Bourbon distilleries |
| 72 | Phoenix Desert sun and space, at a lower cost | 63 | $3,099 | 57.4 Mbps | 5/12 | 300+ sunny days · Lower cost |
| 73 | El Paso Safe, cheap border city sharing a desert valley with Ciudad Juárez | 63 | $3,000* | 101.8 Mbps | 6/12 | Franklin Mountains inside the city · Border culture with Juárez |
| 74 | Wilmington (North Carolina) Cape Fear river port with a historic downtown and beaches 20 minutes away | 63 | $3,000* | 125.1 Mbps | 4/12 | Riverwalk historic downtown · Wrightsville Beach |
| 75 | Detroit Comeback Motor City with cheap space and a Delta hub airport | 63 | $3,000* | 62 Mbps | 4/12 | Motown and auto heritage · Riverfront and Eastern Market |
| 76 | Indianapolis Flat, affordable state capital built around motorsport and conventions | 63 | $3,000* | 75.2 Mbps | 5/12 | Indianapolis 500 · Cultural Trail |
| 77 | Birmingham (Alabama) Former steel city with a renowned food scene and very low costs | 63 | $3,000* | 57.3 Mbps | 7/12 | Civil rights history · Award-winning restaurants |
| 78 | Las Vegas Desert city with 24-hour everything | 63 | $3,006 | 61.7 Mbps | 4/12 | No state income tax · Cheap flights |
| 79 | Pensacola Gulf Coast navy town with white-sand beaches and low costs | 63 | $3,000* | 87.5 Mbps | 6/12 | Pensacola Beach white sand · Naval Air Station and the Blue Angels |
| 80 | South Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe's busiest town, with the Heavenly gondola, beaches and casinos at the state line | 63 | $3,000* | 105.9 Mbps | 4/12 | Heavenly ski resort · Lake Tahoe beaches |
| 81 | Oklahoma City Cheap, sprawling capital with a rebuilt downtown and Thunder basketball | 63 | $3,000* | 67.6 Mbps | 6/12 | Bricktown · OKC Thunder |
| 82 | Omaha Warren Buffett's hometown: steady jobs, low costs and a lively Old Market | 63 | $3,000* | 73.9 Mbps | 5/12 | Berkshire Hathaway · Old Market district |
| 83 | San Jose (California) Silicon Valley's sprawling, sunny and very expensive capital | 63 | $3,000* | 84.2 Mbps | 5/12 | Silicon Valley tech · Year-round sunshine |
| 84 | Tucson Sonoran desert city with a UNESCO food scene | 63 | $2,907 | 76.5 Mbps | 5/12 | Saguaro national park · UNESCO city of gastronomy |
| 85 | Boise Idaho's fast-growing capital with a river through it | 63 | $3,000* | 70.2 Mbps | 4/12 | Boise River Greenbelt · Foothills trails |
| 86 | Milwaukee Lake Michigan brewing city, 90 minutes from Chicago | 62 | $3,000* | 89.7 Mbps | 4/12 | Breweries · Lake Michigan shoreline |
| 87 | Palm Springs Mid-century modern desert resort with perfect winters and furnace summers | 62 | $3,000* | 112.6 Mbps | 5/12 | Mid-century modern architecture · Aerial Tramway and Indian Canyons |
| 88 | Albuquerque High-desert city under the Sandia Mountains | 62 | $3,000* | 50.1 Mbps | 5/12 | Sandia Peak Tramway · Balloon Fiesta |
| 89 | Reno High-desert casino town turned Tahoe gateway with no state income tax | 62 | $3,000* | 74.9 Mbps | 4/12 | Lake Tahoe within an hour · Skiing at Mt Rose and Tahoe resorts |
| 90 | Tulsa Art Deco oil city paying remote workers $10,000 to move in | 62 | $3,000* | 76.7 Mbps | 5/12 | Tulsa Remote program · Art Deco architecture |
| 91 | Bozeman Montana mountain boomtown at the northern gateway to Yellowstone | 61 | $3,000* | 80.6 Mbps | 2/12 | Bridger Bowl and Big Sky skiing · Yellowstone about 90 minutes away |
| 92 | Bend High-desert mountain town for skiing, climbing and craft beer | 60 | $3,000* | 99.8 Mbps | 2/12 | Mount Bachelor skiing · Deschutes River |
| 93 | Anchorage Alaska's biggest city, with mountains and moose at the end of the street | 58 | $3,000* | 49.8 Mbps | 0/12 | Chugach Mountains · Midnight-sun summers |
* national estimate
National figures shared by every city
These come from country-level sources and apply to every city in United States; city pages add the local numbers.
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Homicide rate | 5.76 per 100,000 people | Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), 2023 |
| Political stability | 60 (percentile, World Bank WGI) | Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), 2025 |
| Health coverage index | 88 (WHO UHC index, 0–100) | UHC service coverage index, 2023 |
| Life expectancy | 76.4 years | Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, 2021 |
| Human Development Index | 0.938 | Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), 2023 |
| English proficiency | native | EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), 2024 |
| Starlink | available | Starlink availability map, 2026-10 |
Visas and entry
What three common passports get at the border, from the passport index. Pick your own passport on the ranker for the full picture.
| Passport | Entry rule |
|---|---|
| US passport | home country |
| EU passport | eTA required |
| UK passport | eTA required |
Rank United States's cities for your passport →
No long-stay guide for United States yet. Entry rules above are for short visits.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is United States good for digital nomads?
- Honolulu scores 71/100 under balanced weights, which ranks it 85 of 1,000 cities in the dataset. United States's 93 cities average 64.7/100. Strongest factors in Honolulu: climate and air quality; weakest: cost of living.
- What is the cheapest city in United States for a remote worker?
- New Orleans, at about $2,778 a month for one person including rent (Regional Price Parities by metropolitan area, 2024 (all items), 2024). San Francisco is the most expensive city-priced option at $3,468.
- Does United States have a digital nomad visa?
- Not according to the sources the dataset uses. Short visits follow the entry rules for your passport.
- How long can a US, EU or UK citizen stay in United States without a visa?
- US passport: home country. EU passport (Germany as reference): eTA required. UK passport: eTA required. Source: Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), 2026-02.
- Which city in United States has the fastest internet?
- Irvine, with a measured median download of 131.9 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024). Measured speeds run below advertised plans everywhere; 40 Mbps measured is already good.
- How safe is United States?
- United States records 5.76 homicides per 100,000 people (Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), 2023) and sits at the 60th percentile for political stability (World Bank WGI, 2025). These are national figures; city pages note local caveats.
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