Cost of living
monthly affordability for a typical remote-worker lifestyle
Methodology
Can I Expat There? is a decision aid for remote workers and expats. It combines structured city data, category scores, and an opinionated verdict so you can quickly tell whether a place deserves a closer look.
What We Score
Each city has a 1-5 score for the categories below. Higher is better for a typical remote-worker relocation decision.
Internet
connection quality and remote-work reliability
Safety
day-to-day personal safety and practical risk
Weather
comfort across seasons, heat, rain, and livability
Nightlife
evening energy, social options, and things to do
Food
quality, variety, and value of the food scene
Healthcare
access to practical, good-quality healthcare
Walkability
how easy it is to live without constant car dependence
English friendly
how easy it is to operate day to day in English
How The Score Works
Category scores use a 1-5 scale. The overall city score, shown as the large city score, uses a 1-10 scale and is stored on each city record as `nomadScore`.
City detail pages display the reviewed `nomadScore` and the underlying category scores so the trade-offs are visible. Category ranking pages then apply a category-fit layer: the requested category criteria matter first, and the overall score becomes a tie-breaker rather than the whole answer.
Cost of living is shown as our own monthly estimate. We start from a benchmark anchor, adjust rent, food, transport, coworking, utilities, and lifestyle spending, then add a small deterministic regional/city variance. That keeps the estimate compatible with public benchmarks without reproducing any single site's exact number.
GO / MAYBE / SKIP
The app uses each city JSON verdict directly. There is no runtime threshold function that converts nomadScore into GO, MAYBE, or SKIP. The verdict is intended to summarize whether the city is a strong default choice, a fit-dependent option, or a place most nomads should treat carefully.
GO157 cities6.8-9.0 observed score range
MAYBE318 cities3.5-7.9 observed score range
SKIP25 cities2.7-6.7 observed score range
Data Freshness
Every city record has a `lastReviewed` date. Some inputs change faster than others: visa rules, rents, connectivity, and safety conditions can shift faster than broad lifestyle signals.
`lastReviewed` means the record was reviewed for shape and editorial consistency on that date. Treat the numbers as directional decision-support data, not real-time official statistics.
Where the numbers come from
City records are built from public reference data on cost, connectivity, safety, healthcare, and visa policy, then reviewed by hand for internal consistency before they are published. Decision-critical categories — cost, safety, healthcare, internet, and visa or residency — carry the most weight and get the most scrutiny.
Lifestyle signals such as food, nightlife, and general vibe are editorial judgements. They are useful for narrowing a shortlist, and they are deliberately kept out of the parts of the model that decide whether a city is workable at all.
Limitations
- Cost varies by lifestyle, neighborhood, exchange rates, and timing.
- Safety can vary sharply within the same city.
- Visa and residency rules can change quickly.
- Scores are decision aids, not universal truth.