3.18/5
225 reviews
Photo by Kelly Hofer via Unsplash

Calgary

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good

downtown

cold

long

climate

nice

sports

outdoor

activities

nearby

short

drive

mountains

core

recession

dry

economy

oil

gas

The city offers very good infrastructure, is well-maintained and clean, and has a wide range of outdoor activities for those who enjoy sports or nature. These include easy access to the mountains, skiing, hiking, and more niche local offerings like motocross and kart racing. It's a very suitable place for families and people with active lifestyles, provided they can deal with the colder climate. The city also invests in recreational options like leagues and adventure sports, which is a plus for engaged residents.

However, the climate is generally cold and dry with short summers, which might not suit everyone. The social scene is seen as less open or friendly, particularly for single individuals or people trying to meet new people. The economy, heavily based on oil and gas, has been hit hard and recovery is uncertain; job opportunities are generally better for highly educated workers. The downtown area is still recovering with high vacancies, and outside the core, a car is typically required to get around, though public transit is being improved. Overall, it’s a solid choice for families and outdoor lovers who are prepared for colder weather and a more reserved social atmosphere.

AI-generated summary of reviews
1 year ago

Nice clean city with lots to do if you're into sports and outdoor activities. Pretty good rec leagues (hockey, baseball, etc.) and probably the only city in North America with a full motocross track in the city centre. Also have kart racing nearby (Strathmore) and indoor/outdoor skydiving. Also lots of mountain biking, rock climbing, and hiking within a short drive (Maclean Creek, Drumheller, mountains). Obviously great snowboarding and skiing both in the city (Canadian Olympic Park) and nearby mountains.

For those who aren't into sports or the like the city might be a bit boring. The downtown core is coming back after the recession but still not as lively as many other metropolitans. Definitely a car based city once you get outside the city core but city is investing in subway system so that might get better in next few years.

4 years ago

I've lived here all my life. Its cold, dry , but sunny usually . Summers are short. Job opportunities are ok for well educated only. Economy has been in a long term downturn due to an oil and gas base. Used to be much better economy (pre-2014). Currently over 25% vacancy in downtown buildings you see in photos of downtown office towers. Recovery will depend on a successful transition to tech and other industries considering climate change initiatives away from oil and gas. People stick to themselves here a lot compared to other countries. Generally polite but not friendly. Females are extremely closed and hard to meet here, Most are unattractive and overweight anyways. So definitely not a dating hotspot for male nomads. Good for families however, if you earn good money. And there is good scenery, infrastructure is excellent, and close to the mountains and outdoor activities, if you don mind the cool to cold climate.

5 years ago

Don't Expect to make any friends if you're immigrant after living there for 2 year. Food is suck , Weather is suck , it is long and cold AF
Most Canadian here is closed minded like other said it made me depress so much of living here

7 years ago

Nice city if you drive only. The public transportation is a joke here and the winters are long and cold.
Good parts - there are still jobs even in recession, beautiful scenery, dry climate compared to the East coast of Canada. Hard to make friends if you are an immigrant even after ten years. Despite the false sense of canadian openness - people do not care about warm, human relationships, the majority is interested in career or prefer to stay in their bubble, closed-minded. Europe is much more attractive than this place, socially speaking.

7 years ago

✅ Very clean

✅ Good outdoor activities

✅ Excellent infrastructure

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Good hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Cold climate

❌ Weak economy

❌ Difficult social scene

❌ Car dependent

❌ Very expensive

❌ Not much to do

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets very cold in the winter

❌ Very damp now

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

-327°
freezing

-916°
freezing

439°
cold

948°
cold

1254°
cool

2272°
mild

2475°
warm

2170°
mild

1864°
cool

948°
cold

337°
cold

-1112°
freezing

Real (median)

-131°
freezing

-621°
freezing

541°
very cold

1049°
cold

1254°
cool

2271°
mild

2475°
warm

2169°
mild

1763°
cool

1050°
cold

440°
very cold

-818°
freezing

Humidity

damp
73%

nice
70%

nice
66%

nice
59%

nice
61%

nice
62%

nice
64%

nice
61%

nice
60%

nice
64%

nice
68%

damp
71%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
15mm

dry
17mm

dry
23mm

dry
28mm

rainy
69mm

rainy
58mm

rainy
62mm

rainy
65mm

dry
25mm

dry
29mm

dry
9mm

dry
18mm

Cloud

cloudy
51%

cloudy
69%

cloudy
51%

pockets
44%

cloudy
64%

pockets
24%

pockets
22%

pockets
42%

pockets
47%

pockets
49%

cloudy
63%

cloudy
72%

Air quality

clean
28 US AQI

clean
37 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
20 US AQI

clean
22 US AQI

clean
18 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
18 US AQI

clean
25 US AQI

clean
29 US AQI

clean
26 US AQI

Sun

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

seek shade
6 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

safe
0 UVI

Remote workers

960 people

780 people

1,091 people

1,036 people

1,800 people

1,615 people

2,233 people

1,667 people

1,950 people

1,400 people

1,080 people

1,200 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

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14 Mbps

Canada

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 9° 48° 10° 50° AQI 26

✈️54min

$5,645 / mo

🌇 Also went here105 people

San Francisco, CA

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61° AQI 25

✈️2h

$8,909 / mo

🌇 Also went here77 people

Los Angeles, CA

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 19° 66° 19° 65° AQI 33

✈️3h

$6,610 / mo

🌇 Also went here64 people

Toronto

Canada

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 11° 52° 13° 55° AQI 40

✈️4h

$4,818 / mo

🌇 Also went here88 people

Montreal

Canada

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

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☀️ Feels 11° 52° 12° 54° AQI 56 😷

✈️10h

$6,775 / mo

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Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

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☀️ Feels 23° 73° 23° 73° AQI 29

✈️10h

$4,678 / mo

🌇 Also went here76 people

Tokyo

Japan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

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☀️ Feels 21° 70° 20° 68° AQI 48

✈️11h

$4,108 / mo

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Barcelona

Spain

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.18/5 (Rank #455) 225 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍3 liked it 👎3 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	🧐 Pricey: $3,934 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 34 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 4°C40°F (feels 3°C37°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 84%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	😊 High: 64%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 24 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 21 US AQI
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Okay
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Great
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very rich: $4,642 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Great
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Good
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	North America
🚩 Country	Canada
🗓️ Average trip length	13 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	34 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 4°C 40°F + 💦 Damp (84%) = feels 3°C 37°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 24 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 21 US AQI
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Bridgeland/Riverside
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Forest Lawn
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 CAD in USD	USD 7.16
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	CAD 100 = USD 72
💸 Tipping	Yes, 15%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Assembly
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
🦷 Fluoride added	💧 Yes, fluoridated
🪨 Water hardness	Very hard · 208 mg/L
♻️ Return rate	👍14% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	1,200,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$55,698 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 49% 👱‍♀️ 51%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 53% 👱‍♀️ 47%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 83% 👱‍♀️ 17%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Best Buy
🏠 Apartment listings	rRentfaster
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	West Jet
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Canada

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$3,934 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,807 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$5,656 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,616 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,532 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,438 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,243 / month
🏠 Median home price	$407,915
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$72 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$113 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$215 / month
🍛 Dinner	$18
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$2
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$5
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$4
👩‍🏫 International school	$16,067 / year
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$5 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$12,825
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$34,643
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$109,369

Calgary

1,200 remote workers in Calgary now, of which 2+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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