3.18/5
52 reviews
Photo by Taylor Brandon via Unsplash

Wanaka

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2 years ago I chose to go Wanaka to see what it was like as it was recommended to me by my Kiwi friend who lives in Auckland. I looked at it on google maps and saw it was really small and thought it was boring so I booked a 3 day trip here. Oh my how wrong was I?! 3 days was not enough to do what’s here at all. I went skiing, checked out the town center and so much more! I was so hooked with this place and did not want to leave! I sadly had to. I am in love with this place and will definitely be coming back in August next year!

4 years ago

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Perfect humidity now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here a lot

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ 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+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Not much to do

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets cold in the summer

❌ Not many Nomads.com members go here

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

16°C / 61°F cool

12°C / 54°F cool

15°C / 59°F cool

7°C / 45°F cold

8°C / 46°F cold

0°C / 0°F freezing

5°C / 41°F cold

6°C / 43°F cold

3°C / 37°F cold

11°C / 52°F cool

8°C / 46°F cold

15°C / 59°F cool

Real (median)

16°C / 61°F
cool

12°C / 54°F
cool

15°C / 58°F
cool

7°C / 45°F
cold

8°C / 46°F
cold

0°C / 32°F
freezing

5°C / 41°F
very cold

6°C / 43°F
very cold

3°C / 37°F
very cold

11°C / 51°F
cool

8°C / 46°F
cold

15°C / 58°F
cool

Humidity

nice
59%

nice
58%

nice
63%

nice
57%

nice
58%

nice
66%

nice
62%

nice
60%

nice
55%

nice
61%

nice
58%

nice
65%

Most common

Rain

rainy
137mm

dry
39mm

rainy
56mm

dry
49mm

rainy
111mm

rainy
62mm

rainy
103mm

rainy
104mm

rainy
145mm

rainy
67mm

rainy
94mm

rainy
130mm

Cloud

pockets
37%

pockets
33%

pockets
28%

pockets
32%

pockets
26%

pockets
34%

pockets
35%

pockets
36%

pockets
30%

pockets
39%

pockets
37%

pockets
41%

Sun

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
6 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

Remote workers

900 people

857 people

700 people

600 people

0 people

1,200 people

720 people

600 people

720 people

900 people

600 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 Wanaka's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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Queenstown

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 19° 66° 18° 65°

🚕2h

$5,506 / mo

31 Mbps

Dunedin

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 60° AQI 21

✈️14min

$4,998 / mo

24 Mbps

Christchurch

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64° AQI 22

✈️25min

$3,610 / mo

28 Mbps

Wellington

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 19° 66° 19° 65° AQI 7

✈️48min

$3,532 / mo

25 Mbps

Auckland

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 41

✈️1h

$3,420 / mo

25 Mbps

Hobart

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 18° 64° 17° 62°

✈️2h

$3,936 / mo

79 Mbps

Wollongong

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 24° 75° 24° 74° AQI 67 😷

✈️3h

$4,218 / mo

81 Mbps

Sydney

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 24° 75° 24° 76° AQI 55 😷

✈️3h

$4,421 / mo

79 Mbps

Canberra

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 24° 75° 24° 76° AQI 12

✈️3h

$6,352 / mo

79 Mbps

Melbourne

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 62 😷

✈️3h

$4,067 / mo

79 Mbps

Byron Bay

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 28° 82° 26° 79°

✈️3h

$7,602 / mo

79 Mbps

Gold Coast

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 28° 82° 26° 79° AQI 26

✈️3h

$6,213 / mo

79 Mbps

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 9° 48° 10° 51° AQI 68 😷

✈️25h

$5,857 / mo

25 Mbps

Cheltenham

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 9° 48° 10° 50°

✈️25h

$5,578 / mo

26 Mbps

Taipei

Taiwan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 15° 59° 15° 60° AQI 53 😷

✈️12h

$2,180 / mo

24 Mbps

Munich

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

✈️24h

$4,444 / mo

34 Mbps

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 37° 99° 31° 88° 🥵

✈️11h

$4,480 / mo

173 Mbps

Hamburg

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌤 Feels -2° 28° 1° 34° AQI 57 😷

✈️24h

$4,356 / mo

34 Mbps

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 40° 104° 32° 90° 🥵

✈️11h

$1,613 / mo

21 Mbps

San Francisco, CA

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 14° 57° 14° 58°

✈️15h

$5,676 / mo

100 Mbps

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 38° 100° 31° 88° 🥵 AQI 77 😷

✈️13h

$1,637 / mo

24 Mbps

Edinburgh

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 6° 43° 7° 44°

✈️25h

$5,210 / mo

26 Mbps

Taichung

Taiwan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 19° 66° 19° 67° AQI 70 😷

✈️12h

$2,333 / mo

25 Mbps

Queenstown

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 19° 66° 18° 65°

🚕2h

$5,506 / mo

🌇 Also went here34 people

Christchurch

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64° AQI 22

✈️25min

$3,610 / mo

🌇 Also went here34 people

Wellington

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 19° 66° 19° 65° AQI 7

✈️48min

$3,532 / mo

🌇 Also went here28 people

Auckland

New Zealand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 41

✈️1h

$3,420 / mo

🌇 Also went here30 people

Sydney

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 24° 75° 24° 76° AQI 55 😷

✈️3h

$4,421 / mo

🌇 Also went here30 people

Melbourne

Australia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 62 😷

✈️3h

$4,067 / mo

🌇 Also went here26 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 37° 99° 31° 88° 🥵

✈️11h

$4,480 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 40° 104° 32° 90° 🥵

✈️11h

$1,613 / mo

🌇 Also went here21 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 38° 100° 31° 88° 🥵 AQI 77 😷

✈️13h

$1,637 / mo

🌇 Also went here28 people

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 32° 90° 29° 85° AQI 77 😷

✈️13h

$1,301 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

Los Angeles, CA

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 23° 73° 23° 73° AQI 45

✈️15h

$5,063 / mo

🌇 Also went here24 people

New York City, NY

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels -14° 7° -9° 17°

✈️20h

$7,087 / mo

🌇 Also went here23 people

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 4° 39° 6° 42° AQI 105 😷

✈️25h

$6,263 / mo

🌇 Also went here23 people

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 9° 48° 10° 50° AQI 85 😷

✈️25h

$5,552 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 9° 48° 10° 51° AQI 68 😷

✈️25h

$5,857 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

600 remote workers in Wanaka now, of which 1+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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 #355) 52 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍2 liked it 👎0 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	7% is nomad here
💵 Cost	😳 Extremely expensive: $6,215 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 23 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 14°C58°F (feels 14°C57°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 60%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 8 US AQI
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Great
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Great
🎓 Education level*	Very high
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Very high: $3,353 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Great
🚶 Walkability	Bad
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Good
🖥 Places to work from	Bad
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Oceania
🚩 Country	New Zealand
🗓️ Average trip length	3 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	23 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 14°C 58°F + 😊 Comfy (60%) = feels 14°C 57°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 8 US AQI 🍃 OK
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 NZD in USD	USD 6.04
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	NZD 100 = USD 60
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
☕️ Best coffee place	The Coffee Shack Wanaka
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
♻️ Return rate	7% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	8,500 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$40,233 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 67% 👱‍♀️ 33%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
🏠 Apartment listings	AirBnb
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Jetstar

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$6,215 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,928 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$4,612 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,318 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$5,914 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$4,098 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$913 / month
🏠 Median home price	$726,789
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$277 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$134 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$408 / month
🍛 Dinner	$25
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$2
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$5
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$3
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$27 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$7 / trip