Cost of living figures are The Nomad HQ's editorial estimates of a comfortable monthly budget for one person (rent, food, coworking, getting around and some fun), in USD, not official data. Your real spend depends on your lifestyle. Income is after tax; taxes are not modelled.
What is geoarbitrage?
Geoarbitrage is the simple idea behind a lot of remote-work freedom: earn in a strong currency or a high-paying market, and live somewhere the cost of living is far lower. The gap between the two is money you keep. This calculator makes it concrete: enter what you earn and see how much you would save each month, and at what rate, in every city we cover.
The maths of geoarbitrage
The cheapest nomad cities
Ninh Binh (~$700/mo), Yazd (~$700/mo), Prizren (~$800/mo), Quy Nhon (~$800/mo), Sapa (~$800/mo), Malang (~$800/mo), Semarang (~$800/mo), Cochabamba (~$800/mo), Solo (~$800/mo), Medan (~$800/mo), Makassar (~$800/mo), Can Tho (~$800/mo), Hue (~$800/mo), Vang Vieng (~$800/mo), Battambang (~$800/mo).
Best value for money (score per dollar)
Hue, Ninh Binh, Iloilo, Can Tho, Vang Vieng, Yazd, Davao, Battambang, Solo, Baguio. Enter your income above for a personalised savings ranking.
How it works
We take your after-tax monthly income and subtract each city’s estimated monthly cost of living for one person, a comfortable budget covering rent, food, coworking, getting around and some fun. What is left is your monthly saving, and the savings rate is that figure as a share of your income. Costs are our editorial estimates in USD; taxes are not modelled, since they depend on your residency.
Frequently asked questions
What does geoarbitrage mean?
It means arbitraging geography: using the difference between where you earn and where you spend. A salary that barely covers rent in San Francisco or London can fund a very comfortable life with high savings in parts of Latin America, South-East Asia or Eastern Europe.
Which cities let me save the most?
On a typical remote salary, the highest savings rates are in South-East Asia (Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand), South Asia and parts of Latin America and the Balkans, where a good monthly budget can be well under $1,000. Enter your income above for a personalised ranking.
How accurate are the cost figures?
They are considered editorial estimates of a comfortable single-person budget, not official statistics. Your real spend depends heavily on your lifestyle, how you like to live and how long you stay, so treat them as a starting point for comparison.
Does this include taxes?
No. The calculator uses after-tax income you enter and does not model taxes in the destination, which vary with your residency and visa status. Speak to a cross-border accountant before making decisions based on tax.