2.67/5
1,227 reviews
Photo by Pieter Levels via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Hong Kong

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restaurants

big

expensive

food

hikes

contrasts

day

beaches

island

good

cheap

travel

plan

stay

affordable

islands

Hong Kong is a dynamic city known for its blend of dense urban living and easy access to nature. Skyscrapers sit close to lush hiking trails and quiet islands, offering residents the flexibility to enjoy both fast-paced city life and scenic escapes. The public transport—especially the MTR and bus system—is efficient and affordable, making it easy to get around. Dining options are abundant, from cheap local eats to high-end international cuisine. The city is very safe, with low crime rates, and it's common to meet people from diverse backgrounds due to the large expat presence and the city’s cultural variety.

However, Hong Kong is among the most expensive places to live in the world. Housing is particularly costly, especially on Hong Kong Island, though more affordable shared housing or outlying areas can help reduce costs. Despite affordability hacks like budget food and transport, planning and strategic living choices are necessary to make HK livable on a tighter budget. Overcrowding is also a challenge in many urban areas, though quieter spots exist if you know where to look. Lastly, political uncertainty has raised concerns for some residents, with recent years seeing increased unrest and emigration.

Overall, Hong Kong offers a unique and multifaceted experience, but it comes with trade-offs.

AI-generated summary of reviews

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!

5 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Great public transport

✅ Vibrant food scene

✅ Access to nature and hiking

✅ Culturally rich and diverse

✅ 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

❌ Overcrowded

❌ Political instability

❌ 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

64 18°
cool

63 17°
cool

72 22°
mild

75 24°
warm

77 25°
warm

84 29°
warm

79 26°
warm

73 23°
mild

63 17°
cool

Real

64 18°
cool

63 17°
cool

72 22°
mild

75 24°
warm

77 25°
warm

84 29°
very warm

83 29°
very warm

84 29°
very warm

79 26°
warm

73 23°
mild

63 17°
cool

Humidity

nice
33%

nice
40%

nice
44%

nice
47%

nice
45%

nice
46%

nice
43%

nice
41%

nice
35%

nice
39%

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

1,989 people

1,291 people

1,855 people

2,000 people

1,547 people

1,368 people

1,210 people

1,173 people

1,589 people

1,627 people

2,021 people

1,672 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. Not all nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

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:

	Full Stack Web Developer @ JDCLD Trading
	Full Stack Developer Intern @ Portcast
	Software Engineer @ Pryon
	Senior DevOps Engineer @ CoW DAO
	Senior Backend Engineer @ Rarible
	Senior DevOps Engineer @ Prompt
	Front End Developer 1 year contract @ Smile Digital Health
	Data Engineer @ HighLevel
	Senior Software Engineer @ Kota
	Full Stack TypeScript + Golang 2D 3... @ Visuary
	Senior Site Reliability Engineer @ Ledger

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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$1,380 / mo

🌇 Also went here508 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. Not all 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	2.67/5 (Rank #268) 1227 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍5 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	🙂 Okay: $2,874 / mo
📡 Internet	🚀 Super fast: 71Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Perfect: 20°C68°F (feels 21°C70°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 66%
💨 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)	☀️ 20°C 68°F + 😊 Comfy (66%) = feels 21°C 70°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 1.29
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	HKD 1,000 = USD 129
💳 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	$2,874 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,542 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$8,169 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$2,334 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,447 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,324 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$2,095 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$68 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$43 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$240 / month
🍛 Dinner	$7
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$6
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$5
👩‍🏫 International school	$20,115 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$10 / 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