Meridian Tools · Updated July 2026

Can I afford to live there?

Enter your monthly remote income and see, instantly, which of 199 cities you could live in comfortably — and how much you'd have left over each month. Based on live prices for rent, coworking, transit, and daily dining.

Your monthly take-home income (USD)

/ month

A $3,000/month income covers a comfortable life (essentials under half your income) in 107 cities, is doable in 77 more, and falls short in 15.

CityEssentials/moLeft overStatus

Chennai, India$344+$2,656Comfortablesave 89%Bangalore, India$493+$2,507Comfortablesave 84%Hyderabad, India$510+$2,490Comfortablesave 83%New Delhi, India$522+$2,478Comfortablesave 83%Kathmandu, Nepal$543+$2,457Comfortablesave 82%Goa, India$560+$2,440Comfortablesave 81%Cairo, Egypt$578+$2,422Comfortablesave 81%Chiang Mai, Thailand$590+$2,410Comfortablesave 80%Accra, Ghana$593+$2,407Comfortablesave 80%Hanoi, Vietnam$600+$2,400Comfortablesave 80%Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia$625+$2,375Comfortablesave 79%Kigali, Rwanda$635+$2,365Comfortablesave 79%Tunis, Tunisia$635+$2,365Comfortablesave 79%Da Nang, Vietnam$644+$2,356Comfortablesave 79%Uruapan, Mexico$655+$2,345Comfortablesave 78%Dar es Salaam, Tanzania$660+$2,340Comfortablesave 78%La Paz, Bolivia$675+$2,325Comfortablesave 78%Jakarta, Indonesia$687+$2,313Comfortablesave 77%Plovdiv, Bulgaria$700+$2,300Comfortablesave 77%Havana, Cuba$704+$2,296Comfortablesave 77%Cebu, Philippines$704+$2,296Comfortablesave 77%Kampala, Uganda$705+$2,295Comfortablesave 77%Addis Ababa, Ethiopia$725+$2,275Comfortablesave 76%Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam$751+$2,249Comfortablesave 75%Penang, Malaysia$752+$2,248Comfortablesave 75%Asunción, Paraguay$754+$2,246Comfortablesave 75%Tashkent, Uzbekistan$757+$2,243Comfortablesave 75%Essaouira, Morocco$780+$2,220Comfortablesave 74%Amman, Jordan$819+$2,181Comfortablesave 73%Phnom Penh, Cambodia$820+$2,180Comfortablesave 73%Cusco, Peru$840+$2,160Comfortablesave 72%Lusaka, Zambia$845+$2,155Comfortablesave 72%Jeju, South Korea$847+$2,153Comfortablesave 72%Colombo, Sri Lanka$855+$2,145Comfortablesave 72%Muscat, Oman$855+$2,145Comfortablesave 72%Manila, Philippines$856+$2,144Comfortablesave 71%Mumbai, India$865+$2,135Comfortablesave 71%Phuket, Thailand$875+$2,125Comfortablesave 71%Cartagena, Colombia$880+$2,120Comfortablesave 71%Zanzibar, Tanzania$895+$2,105Comfortablesave 70%Florianopolis, Brazil$902+$2,098Comfortablesave 70%Casablanca, Morocco$917+$2,083Comfortablesave 69%Batumi, Georgia$925+$2,075Comfortablesave 69%Nairobi, Kenya$945+$2,055Comfortablesave 69%Bali, Indonesia$950+$2,050Comfortablesave 68%Kaohsiung, Taiwan$957+$2,043Comfortablesave 68%Antigua, Guatemala$960+$2,040Comfortablesave 68%Bangkok, Thailand$967+$2,033Comfortablesave 68%Medellín, Colombia$970+$2,030Comfortablesave 68%Mérida, Mexico$970+$2,030Comfortablesave 68%Kyoto, Japan$985+$2,015Comfortablesave 67%Oaxaca, Mexico$995+$2,005Comfortablesave 67%Bogota, Colombia$999+$2,001Comfortablesave 67%Wroclaw, Poland$1,008+$1,992Comfortablesave 66%Yerevan, Armenia$1,015+$1,985Comfortablesave 66%Antalya, Turkey$1,015+$1,985Comfortablesave 66%Cape Town, South Africa$1,025+$1,975Comfortablesave 66%Tbilisi, Georgia$1,036+$1,964Comfortablesave 65%Koh Samui, Thailand$1,055+$1,945Comfortablesave 65%Lagos, Nigeria$1,063+$1,937Comfortablesave 65%Buenos Aires, Argentina$1,065+$1,935Comfortablesave 65%Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic$1,070+$1,930Comfortablesave 64%Harare, Zimbabwe$1,075+$1,925Comfortablesave 64%Johannesburg, South Africa$1,089+$1,911Comfortablesave 64%Morelia, Mexico$1,095+$1,905Comfortablesave 64%Taipei, Taiwan$1,099+$1,901Comfortablesave 63%San Jose, Costa Rica$1,101+$1,899Comfortablesave 63%Fukuoka, Japan$1,105+$1,895Comfortablesave 63%Thessaloniki, Greece$1,105+$1,895Comfortablesave 63%Busan, South Korea$1,110+$1,890Comfortablesave 63%Bucharest, Romania$1,115+$1,885Comfortablesave 63%Budapest, Hungary$1,115+$1,885Comfortablesave 63%Brno, Czech Republic$1,117+$1,883Comfortablesave 63%Osaka, Japan$1,129+$1,871Comfortablesave 62%Almaty, Kazakhstan$1,135+$1,865Comfortablesave 62%Quito, Ecuador$1,145+$1,855Comfortablesave 62%Riga, Latvia$1,155+$1,845Comfortablesave 62%Palermo, Italy$1,162+$1,838Comfortablesave 61%Shenzhen, China$1,174+$1,826Comfortablesave 61%Valparaiso, Chile$1,185+$1,815Comfortablesave 61%Sofia, Bulgaria$1,222+$1,778Comfortablesave 59%Marrakech, Morocco$1,259+$1,741Comfortablesave 58%Sao Paulo, Brazil$1,269+$1,731Comfortablesave 58%Abidjan, Ivory Coast$1,276+$1,724Comfortablesave 57%Lima, Peru$1,277+$1,723Comfortablesave 57%Rio de Janeiro, Brazil$1,285+$1,715Comfortablesave 57%Zagreb, Croatia$1,297+$1,703Comfortablesave 57%Las Palmas, Spain$1,310+$1,690Comfortablesave 56%Tartu, Estonia$1,312+$1,688Comfortablesave 56%Split, Croatia$1,337+$1,663Comfortablesave 55%Athens, Greece$1,352+$1,648Comfortablesave 55%Bariloche, Argentina$1,360+$1,640Comfortablesave 55%Santiago, Chile$1,365+$1,635Comfortablesave 55%San Miguel de Allende, Mexico$1,395+$1,605Comfortablesave 54%Tallinn, Estonia$1,396+$1,604Comfortablesave 53%Adelaide, Australia$1,408+$1,592Comfortablesave 53%Guadalajara, Mexico$1,414+$1,586Comfortablesave 53%Maputo, Mozambique$1,414+$1,586Comfortablesave 53%Mexico City, Mexico$1,425+$1,575Comfortablesave 53%Monterrey, Mexico$1,425+$1,575Comfortablesave 53%Shanghai, China$1,425+$1,575Comfortablesave 53%Marseille, France$1,444+$1,556Comfortablesave 52%Granada, Spain$1,461+$1,539Comfortablesave 51%Zapopan, Mexico$1,480+$1,520Comfortablesave 51%Windhoek, Namibia$1,481+$1,519Comfortablesave 51%Kotor, Montenegro$1,492+$1,508Comfortablesave 50%Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain$1,495+$1,505Comfortablesave 50%Porto, Portugal$1,505+$1,495Doablesave 50%Santa Teresa, Costa Rica$1,505+$1,495Doablesave 50%Riyadh, Saudi Arabia$1,527+$1,473Doablesave 49%Tulum, Mexico$1,545+$1,455Doablesave 49%Kraków, Poland$1,546+$1,454Doablesave 48%Kingston, Canada$1,551+$1,449Doablesave 48%Málaga, Spain$1,555+$1,445Doablesave 48%Warsaw, Poland$1,561+$1,439Doablesave 48%Seville, Spain$1,570+$1,430Doablesave 48%Bridgetown, Barbados$1,590+$1,410Doablesave 47%Istanbul, Turkey$1,610+$1,390Doablesave 46%Tenerife, Spain$1,615+$1,385Doablesave 46%Vilnius, Lithuania$1,632+$1,368Doablesave 46%

Showing the 120 most affordable of 199. Narrow with the filters above.

Reference · July 2026

The salary you need to live comfortably

Monthly take-home income at which core essentials stay under half your budget, for the 20 most affordable cities. Free to cite with a link to Meridian.

How it works

For each city we sum four location-driven monthly costs in USD — a 1-bedroom apartment in the city center, a coworking membership, a monthly transit pass, and one casual restaurant meal per day. We compare that basket to the income you enter. A city is comfortable when essentials are ≤ 50% of your income, doable at 50–100%, and out of reach above 100%. This is a defined basket, not total cost of living — groceries, utilities, and healthcare are excluded so every figure traces to a named price. Data is AI-sourced and refreshed continuously (July 2026).

Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need to live as a digital nomad?

It depends heavily on the city. To live comfortably (with your core monthly essentials — rent, coworking, transit, and daily dining — under half your income), you need about $688/month in the cheapest city we track (Chennai) and $2,850/month in the median city. Enter your income above to see all 199 cities.

Can I live in Chennai on a remote salary?

Yes — Chennai, India is the most affordable city in our index. Core monthly essentials run about $344, so even a $688/month remote income leaves you living comfortably with room to save.

What counts as a comfortable salary in this calculator?

We call a city "comfortable" when its four core monthly essentials — a 1-bedroom rent, a coworking membership, a transit pass, and one casual meal out per day — add up to 50% or less of your take-home income. "Doable" means essentials are 50–100% of income. "Out of reach" means they exceed your income before groceries, utilities, or savings.

How accurate is the cost data?

Prices are AI-retrieved from live web sources and refreshed continuously — this snapshot is from July 2026. Figures are typical market rates for a defined basket, not total cost of living. Verify major numbers before committing to a move.

Go deeper on any city

See the full cost breakdown, compare two cities side by side, or read the 2026 Nomad Essentials Index behind these numbers.

Compare cities →Read the Cost Index