2.77/5
1,259 reviews
Photo by Pieter Levels via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Hong Kong

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taipei

stay

good

restaurants

big

expensive

food

hikes

bit

put

culture

contrasts

day

beaches

island

cheap

travel

plan

Hong Kong offers a unique combination of dense urban life and close proximity to nature. Within 15 minutes from downtown, you can be hiking in green and quiet surroundings. The public transportation system is efficient and makes getting around easy, while food options are diverse and cater to all budgets—local eateries offer great value, and you’ll find every type of global cuisine represented. The expat community is strong, and the city has a rich cultural mix that welcomes exploration. Safety is another notable plus, with Hong Kong remaining one of the safest cities, despite its political challenges.

However, housing is among the most expensive in the world, especially on Hong Kong Island. Those on a budget might need to look into co-living or accommodations further from the center. The city can feel overcrowded due to its high density, though there are quiet corners if you know where to look. Political instability and governmental tension are realities that concern some residents, adding a layer of uncertainty over its future. Additionally, social interactions may feel more direct or curt compared to other East Asian cities, which can be an adjustment for some newcomers. Overall, Hong Kong is vibrant and complex—great for a visit, but longer-term stays depend on personal preferences.

AI-generated summary of reviews

It's very solid. I'm glad I visited here and Macao, but TBH I didn't like it as much as Singapore or Taipei. If you like it here, you'd probably like Taipei even more. Also, people are a bit "blunt" to put it euphemistically, it may be a bit of a culture shock if you're used to Thai, Taiwanese, Japanese, etc kindness. Definitely recommended for a visit, long term stay comes down to your preferences and priorities. I will say the history of the city is obvious (in a good way).

18 days ago

Hong Kong is a great city with dense urban areas but also nature and hiking routes only 15 minutes away. There are restaurants for every taste and budget, from the best US fast casual chains to high end Michelin star restaurants. It's also extremely safe, despite recent political instability.

4 years ago

HK is a city of contrasts. You can spend your day in skyscrapers as well as on deserted beaches. You can eat as western or eastern as you like. You can find expats lured here by big banks and tech startups as well as painters and musicians attracted to the deep cultural scene. These contrasts create a depth that invites discovery and keeps me coming back. You'll just never know how your day will end up here or who you'll meet.

HK housing is one of the most expensive in the world. Often compared to NY and Paris. Though it is possible to live frugally in HK. Get a share-house or small room away from HK island. I use CoLiving's mostly for a better price, good location and making friends. Food and transport can be had quite cheap. The subway and busses are a breeze to travel with and for food local restaurants offer cheap, often delicious food. Use 7/11's for beer. Just like Tokyo you have to get some good practices and plan more in order to make your stay affordable.

HK is one of the most densest cities in the world. But take some side streets and you'll find empty parks and quiet spaces lushly filled with tropical green. There's many hikes and islands around HK to go out and explore. Here it also helps to plan some places and hikes beforehand so you'll have an escape whenever HK starts to feel overcrowded.

Politically there is unrest. Some HK'ers have moved to London and Taipei after protests crackdowns and there are also many that stay put and carry-on. Nobody exactly knows where HK will end up and I hope it's culture and people will endure over time because this place is truly unique.

4 years ago

Hong Kong is a fabulous city - from big city living, to isolated beaches, outlying islands and hikes through mountainous terrain. The big downside is it's EXPENSIVE. You need to have a decent salary to live here - otherwise, it would be tough. Hong Kong island is the most expensive, but more affordable places are possible, the further you are willing to travel. It's quite a transient city, so probably pretty easy to make connections!

6 years ago

✅ Extremely safe

✅ Great public transportation

✅ Excellent food variety and affordability

✅ Lots of nature and hiking close to city

✅ Strong expat and cultural scene

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ Not a lot of alcohol abuse

❌ Very expensive housing

❌ Overcrowded

❌ Uncertain political situation

❌ Locals may seem blunt

❌ No freedom of speech

❌ No democracy

❌ Expensive

❌ Nomads.com members didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

18°C / 64°F cool

17°C / 63°F cool

22°C / 72°F mild

24°C / 75°F warm

25°C / 77°F warm

37°C / 99°F hot

35°C / 95°F hot

37°C / 99°F hot

36°C / 97°F hot

29°C / 84°F warm

23°C / 73°F mild

17°C / 63°F cool

Real (median)

18°C / 64°F
cool

17°C / 63°F
cool

22°C / 72°F
mild

24°C / 75°F
warm

25°C / 77°F
warm

29°C / 84°F
very warm

29°C / 83°F
very warm

29°C / 84°F
very warm

26°C / 79°F
warm

23°C / 73°F
mild

17°C / 63°F
cool

Humidity

nice
66%

damp
81%

nice
87%

nice
88%

sweaty
93%

sweaty
90%

sweaty
92%

sweaty
86%

nice
82%

nice
70%

damp
77%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
2mm

rainy
59mm

dry
10mm

dry
41mm

rainy
96mm

rainy
338mm

rainy
241mm

rainy
291mm

rainy
98mm

dry
40mm

dry
2mm

dry
40mm

Cloud

pockets
29%

pockets
26%

pockets
36%

pockets
44%

pockets
48%

cloudy
62%

cloudy
53%

cloudy
58%

pockets
35%

pockets
46%

pockets
32%

pockets
37%

Air quality

okay
86 US AQI

okay
84 US AQI

okay
75 US AQI

okay
64 US AQI

okay
50 US AQI

clean
45 US AQI

okay
53 US AQI

okay
71 US AQI

okay
80 US AQI

okay
81 US AQI

okay
89 US AQI

Sun

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

seek shade
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

Remote workers

2,000 people

1,291 people

1,891 people

2,084 people

1,726 people

1,411 people

1,210 people

1,108 people

1,530 people

1,583 people

2,084 people

1,631 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

Based on Hong Kong's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	Lead Data Engineer @ Open Architects
	Software Engineer II @ Everbridge
	Senior React Native SDK Engineer @ Nami ML
	Tech Cofounder CTO @ Founders Factory
	Senior Backend Engineer @ HockeyStack
	Senior Full stack Developer @ Lemon.io
	Senior Account Lead @ Sanctuary Computer
	Developer Productivity Engineer @ Narwhal Technologies Inc.
	Spanish Speaking Software Support E... @ Payara
	Full Stack .NET Developer @ Smart Working Solutions
	Typescript Engineer @ wander.com

Help pick the best photos for Hong Kong and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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$1,442 / mo

🌇 Also went here522 people

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	2.77/5 (Rank #168) 1259 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍5 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Good
💵 Cost	🙂 Okay: $2,788 / mo
📡 Internet	🚀 Super fast: 71Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 26°C79°F (feels 29°C84°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 84%
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 71 US AQI
👌 Safety	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
💰 Income level*	Very high: $3,662 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Okay
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Good
😄 Happiness*	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Great
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Great
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Okay
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Bad
👩 Female friendly	Okay
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Hong Kong
🗓️ Average trip length	6 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	71 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 26°C 79°F + 😊 Comfy (84%) = feels 29°C 84°F
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 71 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Tsing Yi South
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Sam Shing
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 HKD in USD	USD 1.27
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	HKD 1,000 = USD 127
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	CoCoon
💻 Best alt. coworking space	The Hive
☕️ Best coffee place	Starbucks
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place	McCafe
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍15% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	25,695,800 visitors
📸 Tourists now	492,459 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	7,200,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$43,943 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 44% 👱‍♀️ 56%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 54% 👱‍♀️ 46%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 84% 👱‍♀️ 16%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
🏠 Apartment listings	Square Foot
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Air Asia
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Hong Kong Airlines
🏥 Best hospital	Hong Kong Central Hospital

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,788 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,517 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$8,098 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$2,314 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,271 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,301 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$2,077 / month
🏠 Median home price	$974,947
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$60 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$43 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$238 / month
🍛 Dinner	$7
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$6
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$5
👩‍🏫 International school	$19,940 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$9 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$4 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$4,321
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$12,821
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$37,500