The best (and worst) cities to be a digital nomad

Which cities fare best for digital nomads to work and play? Online home rental company  Spotahome has created a “Digital Nomad” index, comparing 56 cities across the world on how well they welcome this growing untethered workforce. In a recent study by MBO Partners, 4.8 million independent workers consider themselves to be digital nomads.

The criteria

Everything you need to be a digital nomad — a home-free globetrotter who makes their living via their connection to the internet — was evaluated against the cities.
Essential categories used to evaluate were cheap beer and an even cheaper place to sleep. For plugging into work, fast internet and access to co-working spaces (or just cafes with wifi). For entrepreneurs, the presence of startups. And for the mind, acceptance of transients, plus plenty of green space and sunshine.

The top

For all of that, Belfast turned out to be the number one city for digital nomads. Though low on sunshine, it has plenty of cheap apartment rentals, was named the best place to visit by Lonely Planet, and has a fast-growing economy. Lisbon came in second, followed by Barcelona, Luxembourg, and Madrid.

Those cities should watch out, though: Tulsa, Oklahoma, is offering remote workers $10k and membership at a remote working space if they’ll move there and Vermont and Maine have also recently offered incentives.

The bottom

The worst places were more expensive cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, New York City, and Tokyo. New York ranked particularly low in apartment pricing, internet speed, and the number of startups.

Here is the full “Digital Nomad” list

1. Belfast, United Kingdom
2. Lisbon, Portugal
3. Barcelona, Spain
4. Brisbane, Australia
5. Luxembourg, Luxembourg
6. Adelaide, Australia
7. Madrid, Spain
8. San Francisco, United States
9. Wellington, New Zealand
10. Miami, United States
11. Auckland, New Zealand
12. Edinburgh, United Kingdom
13. Perth, Australia
14. Lyon, France
15. Vancouver, Canada
16. Toronto, Canada
17. Amsterdam, Netherlands
18. Geneva, Switzerland
19. Montreal, Canada
20. Melbourne, Australia
21. Berlin, Germany
22. Vienna, Austria
23. Buenos Aires, Argentina
24. Chicago, United States
25. Dublin, Ireland
26. Rome, Italy
27. Sydney, Australia
28. Los Angeles, United States
29. Munich, Germany
30. Bern, Switzerland
31. Prague, Czech Republic
32. Vilnius, Lithuania
33. Stockholm, Sweden
34. Helsinki, Finland
35. Bratislava, Slovakia
36. Brussels, Belgium
37. Warsaw, Poland
38. London, United Kingdom
39. Frankfurt, Germany
40. Tallinn, Estonia
41. Santiago, Chile
42. Seoul, South Korea
43. Budapest, Hungary
44. Osaka, Japan
45. Zürich, Switzerland
46. Copenhagen, Denmark
47. Milan, Italy
48. Paris, France
49. Oslo, Norway
50. Athens, Greece
51. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
52. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
53. Tokyo, Japan
54. New York, United States
55. Singapore, Singapore
56. Hong Kong, Hong Kong