3.09/5
763 reviews
Photo by Anastasia Saldatava via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Kraków

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town

krakow

small

great

krakw

stare

miasto

kazimierz

gem

loved

restaurants

summer

winter

locals

tourist

stuff

walk

cool

favorite

Krakow offers a great blend of affordability, safety, and charm, making it a popular spot for both tourists and digital nomads. The city is walkable, clean, and full of beautiful historic architecture, particularly in areas like Kazimierz and Podgórze. Fast internet and good mobile connectivity also make it attractive for remote work. Locals are generally friendly, and English is commonly spoken in tourist areas, helping remove language barriers for visitors. It’s easy to navigate with affordable and reliable transportation options such as trams or Uber, although many find walking sufficient.

Cafes, restaurants, and nightlife are well-reviewed, with a range of international food and low daily expenses. Many feel it's a hidden gem compared to better-known European cities. However, Krakow is relatively small, and some say it can get boring if staying long-term compared to larger cities like Warsaw. Winters are cold and gloomy, which can affect the overall experience. There are occasional reports of racial tensions and occasional tourist-targeted scams around places like the Old Town. Some prefer less touristy districts like Podgórze for more local flavor and fewer crowds.

Overall, Krakow suits short- to mid-term stays, particularly during warmer months, and is considered a practical, pleasant place for budget-conscious travelers and remote workers alike.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Touristy, but I'd still consider it a hidden gem. Small town vibes, but big enough you won't get bored.

2 months ago

We loved our time in Krakow this July and August. The city exceeded our expectations with its charm and affordability. There are so many great restaurants that are affordable, and getting around couldn’t be easier. Whether you're walking, biking, or hopping on a tram, everything is within reach and super budget-friendly.

I was worried Krakow might be overhyped, but honestly, it’s still underrated in my opinion. Yes, there’s a noticeable amount of tourism, and prices have risen like everywhere else, but it’s still a very affordable city if you’re mindful.

Winter might be a different story, but we’ve definitely found our new summer base.

8 months ago

It is cold, and dark, and sad in the winter and fall and spring. people are hard to meet and connect with. food is bland. the old town is nice, but small. not much to do. lots of locals try to convince tourist to go into seedy strip clubs where there are scams.

12 months ago

I lived in Kraków for 13 years. Before I was nomad I worked in Kraków from office, studied here. I see lots of reviews mention Stare Miasto. In fact biggest gem these days is Podgórze neighbourhood, for lots of locals and expats this is trending area now. It's close to old town an to Kazimierz and has growing numbers of restaurants and delicatessen of various cusines, besides Polish mostly Italian, Jewish, Middle-Eastern, Georgian, Ukrainian, Indian. You can see it's reflected on the neighbourhoods map. In free time after working you can do lot's stuff like go for walk by the river, party in Forum, go to tourist areas in Old Town and Kazimierz, go to gym, train martial arts like Krav Maga, Boxing, go for kayak or SUP in river, in summer spend time by lakes in Zakrzówek or Kryspinów. You can enjoy nature in Las Wolski. You can play football in Góra Parkowa or watch game of Perła Kraków, even try playing for class C football club if you like. There's also lot's of cool museums and cool stuff to do.

2 years ago

I'm Polish and after being an expat nomad for 10+ years I returned to stay in Kraków. It truly is a gem of this region and my favorite small city

2 years ago

Incredible city for nomads. In autumn/winter you'll have to deal with the cold, but there's still stuff going on.

- Using the tram and uber was rare. Stay in Kazimierz or Stare Miasto and you get anywhere interesting in

3 years ago

I studied here. Old town is too busy with tourists to live in for my tase, but there are plenty of districts to choose from. Accommodation is cheap, and you can get mobile data plan in every convenience store. It's also quite safe - local girls aren't afraid to walk alone after dawn. Just don't bother drunk people in front of the bar and you will be fine.

Also if you didn't take some 1-2 day tours to nearby places you're missing out: Wieliczka, Energylandia, Zakopane, Auschwitz. Air quality and temperature in the winter can be annoying, but in case you find yourself there when it is snowing, grab a hot beer "grzaniec".

4 years ago

Krakow is a brilliant city to live and work from. Friendly, easy to get around (usually able to walk everywhere), great internet and busy nightlife. Really pretty city, too. Kazimierz, the old Jewish district, is the obvious place to live. Loads of great cafes and other digital nomads there.
I was there during the summer when it was between 24 and 30 degrees each day, which is perfect. No doubt a different experience in the winter, though!

5 years ago

Enjoyed Krakow. I was only there for 4 days which I think was perfect. It's a small big city with a beautiful old town square, great restaurants, fun sites, and good history. But if I stayed for a month or longer I believe it would have become a tad too small and boring for myself. Personally, enjoy Warsaw (where I have been for a month) more than Krakow if you're debating between the two Polish cities.

6 years ago

Really enjoyed Krakow, it is the perfect 'small city'. Will definitely be returning!

6 years ago

I visited Krakow 10 years ago and it was one of my favorite cities. This recent trip destroyed that memory. Very hard to find good wifi. Small city.

6 years ago

Krakow is my favorite city !
Cheap - you can buy a lunch in around 4$, and rent apartments in the center in around 600EUR. take an uber in less than 3 EUR

Friendly - The locals are very friendly and cool and easy to connect with. there is a lot of expats there so there is enough things to do. also i never had problem with language.. they all know english well

Beautiful - its one of the most beautiful cities i've been at - even more than prague.. everything here maintained like hundreds years ago and be in the old town is magical

Clean - the city is extremely clean

7 years ago

I lived in Stare Miasto for a year and loved it. As an American who doesn't speak the language I had no problem getting anywhere, felt safe the entire time and genuinely loved my time spent here.

Internet was faster than anywhere I've seen in the US, the food was delicious, the nightclubs don't close until daylight and the entire City is inexpensive.

Since I left it seems that racial tensions are growing and I'm hearing from Asian friends that they are being harassed more than ever before. I don't think is much of an issue if you're in the old town tourist area (Stare Miasto) as opposed to the more rural areas of Krakow...but for this reason I'm not going to move back anytime soon.

7 years ago

✅ Very affordable

✅ Friendly people

✅ Very clean

✅ Fast internet

✅ Safe

✅ Good public transport

✅ Great food

✅ Beautiful city

✅ Good for digital nomads

✅ Walkable city

✅ Very safe

✅ Warm now

✅ Good air quality today

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here a lot

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ People can speak basic English

✅ Family friendly

❌ Cold in winter

❌ Small city feel / can get boring long-term

❌ Racial tension

❌ Touristy / scammy areas

❌ Expensive

❌ Not much to do

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels

32 -0°
freezing

30 -1°
freezing

43 6°
cold

46 8°
cold

63 17°
cool

72 22°
mild

77 25°
warm

70 21°
mild

66 19°
mild

55 13°
cool

41 5°
cold

30 -1°
freezing

Real

34 1°
very cold

33 1°
very cold

43 6°
very cold

48 9°
cold

61 16°
cool

72 22°
mild

76 25°
warm

68 20°
mild

64 18°
cool

55 13°
cool

43 6°
very cold

34 1°
very cold

Humidity

damp
79%

damp
77%

nice
69%

damp
71%

damp
73%

nice
70%

nice
78%

nice
75%

damp
76%

nice
67%

damp
76%

Most common

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
53mm

rainy
54mm

dry
42mm

rainy
74mm

rainy
105mm

dry
48mm

rainy
106mm

rainy
79mm

rainy
74mm

dry
17mm

dry
49mm

dry
47mm

Cloud

cloudy
55%

cloudy
51%

pockets
41%

pockets
50%

pockets
38%

pockets
47%

cloudy
50%

pockets
49%

pockets
39%

pockets
48%

cloudy
54%

Sun

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

Remote workers

933 people

1,050 people

1,473 people

1,141 people

1,583 people

1,295 people

1,900 people

1,847 people

1,857 people

1,800 people

1,147 people

1,614 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 Kraków's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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$2,739 / mo

22 Mbps

Warsaw

Poland

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 21° 70° 20° 68° AQI 67 😷

✈️20min

$3,087 / mo

🌇 Also went here335 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	3.09/5 (Rank #22) 763 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍27 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Good
💵 Cost	🙂 Okay: $2,589 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 39Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Perfect: 20°C67°F (feels 21°C70°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 78%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Good: 52 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	😷 Unhealthy for some: 139 US AQI
👌 Safety	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Low: $1,028 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Okay
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Okay
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
👩 Female friendly	Bad
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Bad
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Poland
🗓️ Average trip length	6 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	39 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 20°C 67°F + 😊 Comfy (78%) = feels 21°C 70°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 52 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎☠️ 139 US AQI = 🚬 🚬 / day
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 PLN in USD	USD 2.66
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	PLN 1,000 = USD 266
💸 Tipping	Yes, 10%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	CoLabs
💻 Best alt. coworking space	HubRaum
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
♻️ Return rate	👍11% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	2,550,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	48,871 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	760,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$12,332 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 43% 👱‍♀️ 57%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 86% 👱‍♀️ 14%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Saturn
🏠 Apartment listings	OLX
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Wizzair
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Lufthansa

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,589 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,768 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$3,657 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,045 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,545 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$2,226 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$873 / month
🏠 Median home price	$218,605
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$72 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$73 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$182 / month
🍛 Dinner	$9
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$4
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$12,660
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$28,660
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$76,660