North America
United States
The United States offers enormous variety, strong infrastructure and fast internet. Two things dominate planning for a long stay. There is no digital nomad visa, and remote work on a visitor entry is a grey area, so check the rules for your nationality. Healthcare is expensive enough that travelling without solid insurance is a real financial risk. Outside a handful of large cities the country is car-dependent, and costs and safety vary enormously by location. The best time is regional: the south is at its best in winter, and the north and the national parks in summer.
Nomad quick facts
$3150/mo
$5040/mo
304.8 Mbps
2.535 (#161 of 190)
Moderate
May–Sep (varies)
Not available
72.6 / 100
Score breakdown
Strong infrastructure and fast internet, huge variety of cities and landscapes, English-speaking.
High cost of living, expensive healthcare, car-dependent outside major cities, no nomad visa, safety and cost vary widely by city.
Cost of living in the United States
The United States has high living costs, with accommodation and services particularly expensive in major coastal cities such as New York and San Francisco. Mid-sized cities and smaller college towns can offer substantially better value while still providing good internet, dining and everyday amenities. For longer stays, choosing the right city matters far more than trying to cut individual daily expenses.
Estimated monthly cost
Single
$3,150/mo
Couple
$5,040/mo
Cost score inputs
Livingcost
44/100
WB PLI
100
Score blends a nomad-realistic monthly cost estimate (built from livingcost.org data, adjusted for short-term nomad spending like furnished housing, coworking, and eating out) with the World Bank's Household Consumption Price Level Index, a broader cross-country cost benchmark. Countries without World Bank price-level data are scored on the livingcost estimate alone. Prices displayed in USD.
The nomad cost estimate reflects a realistic single/couple monthly budget, not a bare local cost of living — actual spending still varies with lifestyle and location within a country.
Sources: livingcost.org · World Bank Household Consumption Price Level Index · Independent nomad cost estimates
Internet in the United States
The US has excellent download and upload performance with low-latency connections, making it well suited to video calls, cloud work and other bandwidth-heavy remote work; service quality can vary significantly by city and provider.
Download speed
304.8 Mbps
Upload speed
84.1 Mbps
Latency
48.9 ms
Blends download speed (Ookla Speedtest Global Index) with upload speed and latency (Cloudflare Radar). Speeds are scored between 10 Mbps (0) and 200 Mbps (100); latency counts the opposite way — lower is better. A missing metric doesn't penalize a country, it's scored on whatever data is available.
A national average — city and neighbourhood speeds vary, especially outside major hubs.
Get an eSIM for arrival →Sources: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · Cloudflare Radar
Safety in the United States
The United States' Global Peace Index score is held down mainly by high incarceration rates, gun ownership and military spending rather than street crime affecting typical visitors; day-to-day safety varies significantly by city, with places like Austin and Asheville generally calm and larger cities requiring more standard urban awareness.
Global safety rank
#161 of 190
Peace Index score
2.535 (lower = safer)
WJP Rule of Law rank
#35 of 143
WJP Rule of Law score
0.83 (higher = safer)
Gallup Law & Order rank
#42 of 119
Gallup Law & Order score
81 (higher = safer)
Blends three published safety indices: the Global Peace Index, the WJP Rule of Law Index (Order & Security factor), and the Gallup Global Law and Order Index. Places the Global Peace Index doesn't cover use our own estimate, based on regional peers and crime data. Each is rescaled 0-100 and combined with weights favoring GPI and Gallup slightly over WJP. Not every country is tracked by all three — the blend adjusts to whichever are available (weights are renormalized) rather than penalizing a country for a missing source, though a country tracked by fewer sources carries lower confidence.
As this is national average data, be aware that safety varies significantly by city and region within a country.
Get nomad insurance →Sources: Global Peace Index (Institute for Economics & Peace) · WJP Rule of Law Index (World Justice Project) · Gallup Global Law and Order Index
Tourism & infrastructure in the United States
Austin's live-music tech scene and Asheville's Blue Ridge outdoors give the US real nomad appeal, though costs and infrastructure swing wildly by location. There's no dedicated nomad visa here, so most stays run on the 90-day ESTA cap, and "best time" is entirely regional rather than a single seasonal window.
Happiness rank
#23 of 147
Quality of life rank
#16 of 89
Tourism development rank
#2 of 119
Within-city transit
Moderate
Between-city transit
Limited
Spans nearly every climate — temperate, arid, tropical and continental; hot summers and cold northern winters.
Best months: May–Sep (varies)
The United States has world-class transit in a handful of cities — New York's 24-hour subway is the standout, with solid systems in Washington, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco — but the country is overwhelmingly car-dependent, and most cities have sparse, infrequent service. Intercity travel relies on flying, as Amtrak is strong only in the Northeast Corridor and long-distance buses are limited. Dense urban cores are walkable; suburbs are not.
A weighted blend of published indices: the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Development Index (weighted highest — the strongest predictor of appeal), Numbeo's Quality of Life Index, the World Happiness Report, Gallup's day-to-day enjoyment data, the EF English Proficiency Index, and a public transit assessment covering both within-city and between-city transport. Not every country is scored on all six — the blend adjusts to whichever are available rather than penalizing a country for a missing one.
Sources: WEF Travel & Tourism Development Index · Numbeo Quality of Life Index · World Happiness Report · Gallup · EF English Proficiency Index · Public transit assessment
United States visa and entry rules for digital nomads
Tourist entry — USA passport
N/A — —
Working remotely in the United States on tourist entry
Visitor status does not authorise employment, and US immigration lawyers call the position on remote work for a foreign employer ambiguous. Brief incidental work such as email is seen as permissible. Source
Digital nomad visa
No dedicated digital-nomad route
Other long-stay options
Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Visas (e.g., H-1B, L-1, etc.)
Visa and entry requirements can change. Check the latest information from official government sources before travelling; eligibility, documents and permitted activities depend on your nationality and personal circumstances.
Tax & residency in the United States
Tax-residency timing
183 days using the weighted three-year substantial-presence formula, plus at least 31 days in the current year
How the day count works
Calendar-year test: all current-year days, one-third of prior-year days and one-sixth of days from the second prior year; immigration-status exceptions apply.
Other residency triggers
A green card establishes residence; U.S. citizens are generally taxed as U.S. persons regardless of physical residence. Treaty tie-breakers and first-year elections may also matter.
Remote work before residence
Usually taxable. For a nonresident alien, pay for services physically performed in the United States is generally U.S.-source and taxable regardless of where the employer or payer is located.
If you become tax resident
U.S. citizens, green-card holders and resident aliens generally report worldwide income. Nonresident aliens are generally taxed on U.S.-source income and effectively connected income.
What this usually means for nomads
A non-citizen may become a U.S. tax resident under the weighted substantial-presence test, while U.S. citizens and green-card holders generally remain subject to U.S. tax on worldwide income. Nonresidents may owe U.S. tax on work performed there. A green card, longer or repeated visits, and citizenship are major factors.
Tax rules can change and depend on your residency status, income structure, time spent in the country and applicable tax treaties. This information is general only and is not financial or tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional before relying on it.
Top cities for nomads in United States
Austin is the leading nomad city, a tech and live-music hub where costs are rising quickly. New York has the most culture and networking at very high cost, and Asheville is a mountain town popular with remote workers.
Top US nomad city; tech hub, live music, no state income tax; CoL rising fast.
Largest & most iconic; unmatched networking, culture & energy, but very high CoL.
Artsy Blue Ridge mountain town; outdoors, breweries, moderate CoL, remote-work favorite.
Capital; museums, transit & stable economy, but expensive & government-focused (weaker nomad base).
United Kingdom
Netherlands
Bahamas