What are the Top 6 Cities for Digital Nomads in Winter 2020?
By: Bjorn Lestrud
Tags: Digital Nomads

Finding Data to Use

The best / biggest source of information on nomadic cities is Nomad List, which collects user data from nomads all over the world across different categories (happiness, quality of life, democracy, etc).

In addition to collecting data, Nomad List also dynamically ranks the cities based on existing/new flow of information.

Starting with a dataset of over 1300 cities via nomadlist.com, I began by removing cities based on 4 criterion:

temperature < 66 degrees Fahrenheit. average internet speed < 10 mbps nomadic monthly cost of living >$2500/month Nomad List rank worse than top 150

Scoring / Ranking the Data

Since Nomad List already provides a scoring system to rank all the cities, I wanted to evaluate its usefulness.

Question #1: Will using the Nomad List ranking system to make decisions on where to travel lead to satisfied experiences (happiness, quality of life, fun)?

Based on the figure above, there appears to be no significant correlation between the ranking on Nomad List and satisfied experiences.

Since Nomad List isn’t ranking cities based on factors that lead to satisfied experiences, what are they basing it on?

Based on the figure above, we can determine there is a correlation between the top ranked cities on Nomad List and how many nomads are currently living in a city (users_now_count).

As turns out, 9 out of the top 10 ranked cities on Nomad List are also in the top 10 cities with the most nomads in them right now.

Answer to question #1: Nomad List ranking is not much more than a popularity contest. The more nomads visiting a city, the better their overall rank.

Finding a Better Way to Rank the Data

Since the Nomad List ranking system is inadequate, I decided to do what they couldn’t — to find a way to rank cities that would lead to satisfied experiences.

Question #2: Is there is a correlation between satisfied experiences and societal structure?

I engineered a feature called societal structure, which took the composite mean of democracy, press freedom, female friendly, lgbt friendly, friendliness to foreigners, racial tolerance, and safety.

Based on the figure above, it’s clear there is a positive correlation between satisfaction and societal structure.

Answer to question #2: Yes, a better societal structure leads to more satisfied experiences.

Based on this, I built a new ranking system based on the average of societal structure and satisfaction. I called it ‘My Score’.

The Top 6 Cities — Ranked by My Score

#6 — Ponta Delgada, Portugal

“3rd best destination in the world to visit in 2017” by Lonely Planet.

“Best sustainable travel destination in Europe” by The Green Destinations in 2014

“The most beautiful place in the world for vacations or business trips in 2016” by The National Geographic Traveler

“One of the earth’s regions with better air quality” by OECD — Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

#5 — Buenos Aires, Argentina

Birthplace of tango

Some of the world’s biggest glaciers (in Patagonia)

Argentine steak (considered among the best in the world)

Street art in Palermo / colored buildings in La Boca

Penguins!

#4 — Montevideo, Uruguay

Best quality of life in Latin America (Mercer Index)

World’s longest boardwalk

First country to legalize recreational use of marijuana

Beautiful / famous beaches

Each neighborhood has different outdoor market (with food, antiques, etc.)

#3 — Tenerife, Canary Islands

Beaches with golden/volcanic sands and warm crystal clear waters

One of the premier star gazing sites on the planet by Starlight Foundation

Second most popular carnival party in the world

Most visited National Park in all of Europe

Masca Walk is considered one of the most spectacular sky-to-sea hikes in the world

#2 — Santiago, Chile

San Cristobal Hill

Pablo Neruda’s house

One of the most popular wine regions in the world

Vinã Del Mar

Santiago sunset w/ snow-capped Andes Mountains in background

#1 — Taipei, Taiwan

Rated as #1 place to live by Internation’s Expat Insider 2019

Voted world’s top foodie destination in 2015, viewers of US news channel CNN.

Fulong Beach — known for golden sands

Scuba diving off the south coast

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Note: Here is a link to the colab where I sourced the data and created the visualizations: https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1HhimxHrislPg-ieeV-HshCoi_Y4uSly6