Nomad InsidersHONEST CITY FILES
Watch a place
COST INDEXUSD/MO · ▲▼ VS LAST YEAR
Armenia$1,050Asunción$1,100▲ +6%Balneário Camboriú$1,700▲ +6%Barranquilla$1,200Bogotá$1,500▲ +9%Bucaramanga$1,100Buenos Aires$2,000▲ +36%Cali$1,400Curitiba$1,300▲ +6%Florianópolis$1,700▲ +9%Fortaleza$1,500▲ +6%João Pessoa$1,300▲ +6%Lima$1,500Manizales$1,050Medellín$1,400▲ +14%Mendoza$1,000Montevideo$1,850▲ +8%Natal$1,250▲ +6%Rio de Janeiro$1,900▲ +6%São Paulo$1,900▲ +6%Viña del Mar$1,850Chicago$3,250▲ +1.4%Guadalajara$1,650Las Vegas$3,300▲ +6.8%Mérida$1,900Mexico City$2,200▲ +8.7%Miami$4,200▼ -2%Nashville$2,900New York City$5,000Oaxaca City$1,400Playa del Carmen$2,000Puerto Vallarta$2,200San Miguel de Allende$1,900Toronto$2,950▼ -0.6%Vancouver$3,100▼ -4%Athens$1,800▲ +9%Barcelona$2,500▲ +3%Belgrade$1,500Bologna$2,080▲ +3%Budapest$1,700▲ +7%Chania$1,500Edinburgh$3,000▲ +1%Florence$2,500▲ +7%Funchal$2,300Ibiza$3,900Istanbul$1,800▲ +15%Kraków$1,800▲ +5%Las Palmas$2,250▲ +9%Lisbon$2,900▲ +12%London$4,000▲ +2.2%Madrid$2,350▲ +8%Málaga$2,100▲ +6%Milan$2,650▲ +1%Mykonos$2,970▲ +5.0%Porto$2,500▲ +5%Prague$2,200▲ +6%Rome$2,350▲ +5%Santorini$3,600Seville$1,900▲ +5%Split$1,900Tallinn$2,200▲ +4%Tbilisi$1,300▲ +4%Thessaloniki$1,500▲ +5%Tirana$1,500▲ +10%Valencia$2,300▲ +8%Bangkok$1,900▲ +5%Canggu$2,000▲ +12%Cebu City$1,250▲ +6%Chiang Mai$1,300▲ +6%Da Nang$1,300▲ +8%Hanoi$1,300▲ +6%Ho Chi Minh City$1,400▲ +6%Kuala Lumpur$1,450▲ +6%Penang$1,600▲ +6%Phnom Penh$1,300▲ +8%Phuket$2,200▲ +6%Singapore$4,300▲ +5%Seoul$2,100Taipei$1,700Tokyo$2,600Cape Town$2,000Dubai$3,400Melbourne$2,900Panama City$2,100Sydney$3,600▲ +7%Armenia$1,050Asunción$1,100▲ +6%Balneário Camboriú$1,700▲ +6%Barranquilla$1,200Bogotá$1,500▲ +9%Bucaramanga$1,100Buenos Aires$2,000▲ +36%Cali$1,400Curitiba$1,300▲ +6%Florianópolis$1,700▲ +9%Fortaleza$1,500▲ +6%João Pessoa$1,300▲ +6%Lima$1,500Manizales$1,050Medellín$1,400▲ +14%Mendoza$1,000Montevideo$1,850▲ +8%Natal$1,250▲ +6%Rio de Janeiro$1,900▲ +6%São Paulo$1,900▲ +6%Viña del Mar$1,850Chicago$3,250▲ +1.4%Guadalajara$1,650Las Vegas$3,300▲ +6.8%Mérida$1,900Mexico City$2,200▲ +8.7%Miami$4,200▼ -2%Nashville$2,900New York City$5,000Oaxaca City$1,400Playa del Carmen$2,000Puerto Vallarta$2,200San Miguel de Allende$1,900Toronto$2,950▼ -0.6%Vancouver$3,100▼ -4%Athens$1,800▲ +9%Barcelona$2,500▲ +3%Belgrade$1,500Bologna$2,080▲ +3%Budapest$1,700▲ +7%Chania$1,500Edinburgh$3,000▲ +1%Florence$2,500▲ +7%Funchal$2,300Ibiza$3,900Istanbul$1,800▲ +15%Kraków$1,800▲ +5%Las Palmas$2,250▲ +9%Lisbon$2,900▲ +12%London$4,000▲ +2.2%Madrid$2,350▲ +8%Málaga$2,100▲ +6%Milan$2,650▲ +1%Mykonos$2,970▲ +5.0%Porto$2,500▲ +5%Prague$2,200▲ +6%Rome$2,350▲ +5%Santorini$3,600Seville$1,900▲ +5%Split$1,900Tallinn$2,200▲ +4%Tbilisi$1,300▲ +4%Thessaloniki$1,500▲ +5%Tirana$1,500▲ +10%Valencia$2,300▲ +8%Bangkok$1,900▲ +5%Canggu$2,000▲ +12%Cebu City$1,250▲ +6%Chiang Mai$1,300▲ +6%Da Nang$1,300▲ +8%Hanoi$1,300▲ +6%Ho Chi Minh City$1,400▲ +6%Kuala Lumpur$1,450▲ +6%Penang$1,600▲ +6%Phnom Penh$1,300▲ +8%Phuket$2,200▲ +6%Singapore$4,300▲ +5%Seoul$2,100Taipei$1,700Tokyo$2,600Cape Town$2,000Dubai$3,400Melbourne$2,900Panama City$2,100Sydney$3,600▲ +7%
HONEST CITY FILES · UPDATED DAILY

Freedom starts now.

The facts behind the freedom: what a city really costs, which visas you’ll actually get, and the news that moves each one. Sourced, dated, no influencer fluff.

The world is waitingCheck your visa options
CITY FILES
85
across 38 countries
VISA PROGRAMS
138
sourced & confidence-rated
AVG COST · MO
$2,106
across 85 tracked cities
CURRENCIES
159
live FX, updated daily
[01]

Count the real cost

Rent, food, transport and the rest, itemised per city and stamped with the date we last checked it. When a number moves, you can see that it moved.

[02]

Find the visa that fits

Every programme we can source, with the income bar, the paperwork and where the rule is written. Confidence-rated, so you know how sure we are.

[03]

Know before it reaches you

A live wire on the cities you are watching. A city only carries a warning when the coverage earns it, so a quiet badge means quiet.

§ 01: Destinations

Top-scored cities

TOP-SCORED · FROM THE AUDITED CITY FILES
#CITYCOST·MOREGIONSCORETRENDVERDICT
01🇲🇽Mexico CityMexico$2,200North America4.1▲ +8.7%Go, but stay alert02🇨🇴MedellínColombia$1,400South America3.6▲ +14%Go, but stay alert03🇪🇸ValenciaSpain$2,300Europe4.2▲ +8%Go04🇲🇾Kuala LumpurMalaysia$1,450Southeast Asia4.1▲ +6%Go05🇵🇹PortoPortugal$2,500Europe4.1▲ +5%Go06🇹🇼TaipeiTaiwan$1,700Asia4.1–Go
Browse all city files
§ 02: The Toolkit

Everything on the desk

Visa IntelligenceEvery program sourced and confidence-rated→Currency & FXLive rates plus the dollar-strength board→US Expat TaxesFEIE, FBAR, and what actually applies to you→GlossaryEvery term in the files, defined in plain English→Nomad WireThe news that moves visas, costs, and cities→
Medellín, ColombiaFEATURED CITY FILE
🇨🇴

Medellín

Colombia
3.6SCORE
$1,400/moGo, but stay alert

Eternal spring and real energy, plus the safety reality the brochures skip.

Live weather
☁️30°C
Feels like 31° · Overcast
Humidity41%
Wind14 km/h
FRI🌦️30°
SAT🌧️30°
SUN🌧️28°
MON🌦️28°
TUE🌦️29°
Open the city file
NOMAD WIRE · LIVE
All news →
14h🇨🇴COWhat is the cause of the high rents that have appeared in the Medellin landscape?SP → ENGoogle News — Medellín (local)6hNEW🇨🇴COFestival El Mundo brings 13 nations together through food in BogotáThe City Paper BogotáEDITOR RECOMMENDSSafetyWingHealth insurance that follows you across borders SafetyWing Essential: sign up from anywhere, keep it as you move.We earn a commission if you sign up6hNEW🇨🇴COBogotá Horror Film Festival 2026: Fear Speaks the Same LanguageSP → ENGoogle News — Bogotá (local)6h🇨🇴COLa Nubia Airport launches direct route between Manizales and MedellínSP → ENGoogle News — Manizales (local)1hNEWRegister For New IHG One Rewards Global Promo: Earn Up To 3x PointsOne Mile at a Time2hNEWGet 50% back on up to 2 Lyft ridesFrequent Miler2hNEWChase Sapphire Reserve for Business Limits 3x Advertising Category To $1MDoctor of Credit