2.93/5
1,044 reviews
Photo by Lindsay Martin via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Copenhagen

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weather

great

pretty

good

huge

amazing

winter

locals

friendly

restaurants

options

hours

summer

windy

difficult

seaside

easy

safe

Copenhagen is widely praised for its safety, friendly locals, and excellent urban infrastructure. Biking is a primary mode of transport and very safe, and public transportation is reliable and affordable. Summer in Copenhagen is considered amazing, with easy access to the seaside for swimming, running, or relaxing. There are many cafés, especially great for working remotely or enjoying the cozy Danish "hygge" lifestyle. Remote workers can find plenty of coworking spaces and benefit from the city's overall modern and international-friendly vibe. The airport is efficient and well-connected across Europe and beyond, making travel easy. Cultural life is rich for a city of its size, with good food, nightlife, and architecture range.

However, multiple reviewers consistently mention the high cost of living, especially for food, housing, and services. Winters are long, windy, gloomy, and can feel depressive to many, especially due to short daylight hours. While Danes can be friendly, some note that making deep social connections may take effort. Housing for newcomers or budget travelers is especially difficult to secure affordably.

Overall, Copenhagen is considered a highly livable city—ideal for short-term visits or long stays if you can manage the costs and get past the bureaucracy of moving, especially for non-EU citizens.

AI-generated summary of reviews
3 months ago

Lived in Copenhagen for just under three years, and for the whole time, I have worked remotely as a freelancer. It's pretty much as perfect as you're going to get in terms of urban design; getting around is easy and safe by bike, and the public transport network is efficient and reasonably-priced. Lots of fun things to do for a relatively small city, and the locals are—from personal experience—incredibly friendly.

Pros:
- Very safe. You can walk around most areas round-the-clock and not have to worry, violent crime is largely gang-related but even then still quite rare

- Lots of fun things to do, many of which don't require a huge budget. For example, you can swim in the harbor baths year-round and simply sit outside with a book when the weather is good. Nightlife is pretty decent for pubs, bars, and restaurants; I'm not a huge fan of clubs in general, so I can't comment too much on that.

- The council actively tries to improve locals' quality of life, which is a huge contrast to where I am from (London)

- Friendly locals and a big international community. It can be hard to make friends, but I would say that you'll be okay if you join clubs/actively pursue your own interests. Instagram and MeetUp are both great options for finding people with similar hobbies :)

- A good mix of architecture. You've got pretty old houses and more interesting modern designs, some are hideous (i.e. Kaktus Towers) but most blend in quite well IMO

- The airport is very good, close to the city center, and has lots of flights across Europe and other continents

- Close to both mainland Europe and the rest of Scandinavia. You can get to Hamburg in 4.5 hours by train, for example, and Sweden is not far away

- Summer in Copenhagen is amazing. Long daylight hours, reliable weather for the most part, feels like you're on a two-and-a-half month long holiday.

- Lots of coworking spaces. I usually work from Spaces, Regus has various offices as well but these are hit and miss. The best ones are Havnegade and Fuglevangsvej in my opinion

Cons:

- Winters aren't great. It's windy, it rains a lot, and the daylight hours are short. However, that's a great excuse to visit the many cafés and restaurants, because hygge and stuff :)

- The cost of living is much higher than most European cities. If you're moving here as a remote worker and staying long-term, I would personally say that you should ensure that your income is at least $5,500 per month. Taxes are also high

- The housing market is a bit of a mess. Rent prices are high and it can be difficult to find an apartment if you're on a budget. Movinn and LifeX are two choices you can look at as starting points

- Moving to Denmark if you're not an EU/EEA/Nordic/Swiss citizen is very difficult. I have an EU citizenship through one of my parents so this didn't affect me, but you'll have to deal with a lot of paperwork if you aren't one. If you're from EU/EEA/Nordics/Switzerland, it's pretty easy if you have the means to support yourself

- The city center can be quite crowded on weekends, especially around Nyhavn etc.—but if you leave the touristy parts, you'll be fine. Copenhagen has plenty of other interesting neighborhoods anyway :)

Overall, I would say that Copenhagen is easily one of the most liveable cities in Europe—if not top of the list. The cost of living is high and it can be difficult to move here, but once you've settled, life is pretty good in my opinion. You can get around with English, but learning Danish opens new opportunities and a lot of stuff is done in Danish rather than English. If you're able to move here, and you can stand the winter weather, I highly recommend it :)

2 years ago

Just came back from my second proper trip to Copenhagen. Now, I've been there in February and August, which is a huge contrast in this city.

Winter:
Copenhagen is great for cafes, working in them and experiencing the "hygge" (coziness) lifestyle. Why? Because the weather is so cold, windy and partly rainy that you just don't want to spend time outside. If you have someone to cuddle with, I highly recommend going there in Winter.

Summer:
Just amazing. If the weather is good you have several places to hang out. Right sea-side you have several options to go for a swim, work out or run along the seaside. Also, if you're biker, you'll love Copenhagen because everything is bikeable.

In general I would say Copenhagen is a great city to see but if you don't want to spend shitloads of money, then just go there for a weekend. Airfare is quite cheap if you come from one of the major airports in Europe (I came from Frankfurt).

Pros:
- beautiful seaside with great possibilities
- nice cafes to experience the hygge-lifestyle
- friendly and open people
- bikeable
- some nice vegan places (Kaf for vegan cakes and Riz Raz for an amazing veggie/vegan buffet)

Cons:
- horribly expensive (like seriously. I paid around 16 € for a noodle box)
- depressing when cold
- seriously horribly expensive

Would I go there again? Yes, but probaly only in summer and for around 3 days. That's enough to see most of it.

3 years ago

Amazing city, transport, people, restaurants, wifi, etc...

only cons is that it is expensive and weather is bad for 6 months.

3 years ago

Copenhagen is way too expensive.
I have lived there for quite some time and although it's has this semi-hipster vibe, it still feels like a big village.
It's miserable in the winter because it's so windy and went.
There are much better and cheaper options, plus the people can be hard to relate to.

4 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Friendly people

✅ Bikeable city

✅ Great public transport

✅ Fun things to do

✅ Nice cafes and coworking spaces

✅ Beautiful seaside and summer activities

✅ Good for remote workers

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here a lot

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Very family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

❌ Very expensive

❌ Long, cold, and windy winters

❌ High rent and difficult housing market

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Feels crowded

❌ Very difficult to make friends

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

-2°C / 28°F freezing

3°C / 37°F cold

5°C / 41°F cold

12°C / 54°F cool

20°C / 68°F mild

22°C / 72°F mild

18°C / 64°F cool

11°C / 52°F cool

6°C / 43°F cold

-0°C / 32°F freezing

Real (median)

1°C / 34°F
very cold

5°C / 41°F
very cold

7°C / 45°F
cold

13°C / 55°F
cool

19°C / 66°F
mild

22°C / 71°F
mild

18°C / 64°F
cool

12°C / 54°F
cool

8°C / 46°F
cold

2°C / 36°F
very cold

Humidity

damp
76%

damp
74%

damp
73%

nice
61%

damp
79%

nice
73%

nice
77%

nice
73%

damp
77%

damp
80%

damp
79%

damp
78%

Most common

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
63mm

dry
28mm

dry
47mm

dry
32mm

rainy
56mm

dry
7mm

rainy
77mm

rainy
79mm

rainy
64mm

rainy
74mm

rainy
52mm

rainy
70mm

Cloud

pockets
49%

pockets
42%

pockets
38%

pockets
34%

cloudy
53%

pockets
39%

cloudy
50%

cloudy
51%

cloudy
50%

pockets
48%

cloudy
54%

cloudy
57%

Air quality

clean
34 US AQI

clean
40 US AQI

clean
37 US AQI

clean
40 US AQI

clean
38 US AQI

clean
39 US AQI

clean
40 US AQI

clean
39 US AQI

clean
35 US AQI

clean
37 US AQI

clean
30 US AQI

Remote workers

989 people

1,240 people

1,357 people

1,543 people

1,986 people

1,920 people

1,979 people

2,144 people

2,293 people

1,500 people

1,378 people

1,363 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

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$3,510 / mo

21 Mbps

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70° AQI 61 😷

✈️28min

$4,428 / mo

🌇 Also went here534 people

Stockholm

Sweden

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 17° 63° 17° 63° AQI 26

✈️42min

$4,163 / mo

🌇 Also went here397 people

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 24° 75° 24° 76° AQI 42

✈️2h

$4,903 / mo

🌇 Also went here530 people

Madrid

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 35° 95° 30° 87° 🥵 AQI 34

✈️12h

$3,335 / mo

🌇 Also went here334 people

400 remote workers in Copenhagen now, of which 2+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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.

⭐️ Total score	2.93/5 (Rank #54) 1044 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍11 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😳 Extremely expensive: $5,704 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 47 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Nice: 18°C64°F (feels 18°C64°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 69%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Very low: 2%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 25 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 37 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Great
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Great
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Very bad
💰 Income level*	Very high: $4,478 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Great
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Low density: 7k ppl/km² (1 per 12x12m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Great
🍸 Nightlife	Great
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Good
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Good

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Denmark
🗓️ Average trip length	5 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	47 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 18°C 64°F + 😊 Comfy (69%) = feels 18°C 64°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 25 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 38 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Christianshavn
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Bispebjerg
🚕 Best taxi app*	Moove
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 DKK in USD	USD 1.57
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	DKK 1,000 = USD 157
💸 Tipping	Yes, 10%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Republikken
💻 Best alt. coworking space	Soho
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
♻️ Return rate	👍11% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	3,061,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	58,664 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	560,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$53,730 / year
😤 Population density	🤨 busy: 12x12m (144m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 81% 👱‍♀️ 19%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Power
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Ryanair
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	SAS

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$5,704 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$4,027 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$8,965 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$2,561 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$2,903 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$4,708 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,986 / month
🏠 Median home price	$848,970
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$136 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$154 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$367 / month
🍛 Dinner	$20
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$3
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$9
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$6
👩‍🏫 International school	$7,810 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$14 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$8 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$17,512
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$42,236
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$125,968