---
title: "Top 10 English-speaking cities for digital nomads"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/top-10/english-speaking-cities
description: "The ten best-scoring cities in countries where English is native or proficiency is very high (EF English Proficiency Index), for nomads who want to skip the language barrier."
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Top 10 English-speaking cities for digital nomads

Funchal (Madeira), Valletta, Malmö score best of the 107 cities where English is native or very widely spoken. Proficiency is a country-level band; daily life in a capital is usually easier than the band suggests.

EF English proficiency band native or very high; sorted by balanced score.

| # | City | Country | English | Score | Monthly cost | US passport |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Funchal (Madeira)](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/funchal) | Portugal | very-high | 75 | $2,000* | 90 days |
| 2 | [Valletta](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/valletta) | Malta | native | 73 | $2,136 | 90 days |
| 3 | [Malmö](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/malmo) | Sweden | very-high | 73 | $1,957 | 90 days |
| 4 | [Faro (Algarve)](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/faro) | Portugal | very-high | 72 | $1,719 | 90 days |
| 5 | [Lisbon](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/lisbon) | Portugal | very-high | 72 | $2,499 | 90 days |
| 6 | [Stockholm](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/stockholm) | Sweden | very-high | 71 | $2,955 | 90 days |
| 7 | [Copenhagen](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/copenhagen) | Denmark | very-high | 70 | $3,358 | 90 days |
| 8 | [The Hague](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/the-hague) | Netherlands | very-high | 70 | $2,843 | 90 days |
| 9 | [Vienna](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/vienna) | Austria | very-high | 70 | $2,407 | 90 days |
| 10 | [Antwerp](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/antwerp) | Belgium | very-high | 70 | $2,604 | 90 days |

## FAQ

### Where can a digital nomad live in English?

Funchal (Madeira), Valletta, Malmö, Faro (Algarve), Lisbon lead the list of cities where English is native or proficiency is very high.

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages).

HTML page: https://nostos.navoy.io/top-10/english-speaking-cities