Melbourne, highest ranking city in Work from Anywhere index

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The Work-from-Anywhere Index reveals the best cities to live and work remotely from, according to data on legislation, costs and overall livability. The results show the cities which are best prepared to attract this new breed of worker via digital nomad visas, remote working infrastructure and more.

On-demand housing platform Nestpick.com has released a study showing the best cities worldwide to live and work remotely from. As first-hand observers of this growing relocation trend, the company decided to investigate further by using data to determine the cities that are not only the most attractive to foreign-employed workers, but also have the infrastructure and legislation in place to make it easy for them to live and work there. The resulting index offers insight into a broad range of factors encompassing costs, infrastructure, legislation and livability to reveal the cities best prepared to attract this new breed of work-from-anywhere resident.

According to the study:

  • Melbourne is the highest ranking city in the index, scoring highly on livability factors like safety, healthcare and culture & leisure activities, and is boosted by its remote working infrastructure and the presence of a specific ‘Digital Nomad’ Visa. Dubai and Sydney rank second and third.
  • Only 10 cities in the study offer a ‘Digital Nomad’ Visa: Zagreb, Prague, Lisbon, Reykjavik, Tallinn, Athens, Sydney, Melbourne, Dubai and Mexico City.
  • On average, Rio de Janeiro has the most affordable Home Office Space (€119 per month), followed by Sankt Petersburg (€139), and Istanbul (€169).
  • Las Palmas has the best overall weather conditions in the study, while Tallinn has the best combined noise, air and light pollution score.
  • US cities lead the pack for Covid-19 vaccination rates; Boston has the highest percentage at 63.31%, ahead of Honolulu (58.94%) and Seattle (54.89%).

Omer Kucukdere, Founder and CEO at Nestpick

“The global pandemic has caused many people to reassess their personal priorities, revealing the benefits of remote working flexibility and provoking the question “is it really possible to work from anywhere?” What we’ve seen through our study, however, is that technology and employers have moved faster than infrastructure, with many legal barriers still in place for migrants who want to bring their job with them,”

”Moreover, high-earners are leaving business-focused cities to live in places that offer better day-to-day lifestyles, taking their purchasing power with them. This trend will only become more popular as time goes on, so we believe that we will see more and more cities adapting to these new working conditions, and benefitting from the economic boost that these workers inject into their economies.”

Nestpick began the study by selecting a list of 75 major global cities often cited as ‘most-livable’ destinations, including those which have demonstrated willingness to accept remote workers from around the world. These cities were then analysed according to three broad categories – Costs & Infrastructure, Legislation & Freedoms, Livability – that combined make them good places to both relocate to and work remotely from.

For the first category, the basic costs and set-up requirements needed to work comfortably were assessed, such as the price and availability of adequate home office space and the speed and capacity of the internet connection in each location.

Next, the researchers appraised the ease with which a foreigner was able to work remotely in each location, investigating whether countries offered a special visa for these employees, as well as specific remote working infrastructure such as tax deductions and regulations. Being able to live safely and freely is often a deciding factor for potential migrants, so the extent of basic human rights and freedoms was also determined in each location, as well as levels of security and support for gender equality and inclusivity of minorities and the LGBT+ community.

After evaluating these structural and legislative elements, the study looked at the factors which make a city a great place to live, such as access to culture and leisure events both before and during the pandemic, as well as the general weather and levels of air, noise and light pollution.

Finally, since the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact the livability of many metropolises, they took note of the percentage of the populations that are fully vaccinated in each location as an indicator of the governmental response to the crisis. The resulting index offers an overview of the best global cities for remote workers, as well as the places with the best infrastructure to attract this new breed of worker going forward.