1/5
637 reviews
Photo by Artem Beliaikin via Unsplash

Moscow

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winter

great

cheap

activities

good

internet

groceries

expensive

amount

cultural

day

summer

london

snow

cold

plenty

quality

big

taxi

Moscow is widely regarded by residents and visitors as a safe and affordable city with strong infrastructure. Internet speeds are fast and inexpensive, and public transportation—especially the metro—is cheap, efficient, and extensive. Many highlighted the abundance of cultural experiences, festivals, concerts, and parks, making it attractive for young and active people. Yandex provides reliable ride-hailing services, and 24-hour online delivery is common. The city is also kept impressively clean for its size.

However, Moscow has its downsides. The air quality is often poor and noticeable after time away. Winters, particularly between November and March, are seen as grey, dirty, and emotionally draining, causing many to travel abroad during these months. While life is affordable, short-term rentals like Airbnb are expensive, and long-term options often require help from Russian-speaking locals. The city’s vast size can lead to long commute and travel times. Finally, there’s a language barrier—outside tourist zones, English is not commonly spoken, especially among the older generation.

Overall, Moscow is a well-developed, dynamic metropolis with plenty to offer, especially if you're prepared for the cultural and environmental challenges.

AI-generated summary of reviews
4 months ago

I am from Moscow but grew up abroad. It's a lovely city, it's hard to find another city that matches the amount of cultural activities there are. Every day there are at least 2 festivals, 3 major concerts and tons of shows in theaters. The best season is winter and summer. The amount of decorations in the winter is incomparable (to London for example)! Snow adds magic to the city and if you are worried about the cold, there are plenty of shops with high quality winter clothes at decent prices. The city is very big, it will take ages to get somewhere and back, so only about 2 activities a day unless you live close.

2 years ago

Moscow is a great city, especially for young and adult people. Many business here and a lot of fun. Cheap taxi. Very clean city. Online delivery 24-hours for everything! Great and cheap subway (metro). Many cultural experience, good and different food. Fast Internet and free wifi in most of public places.

4 years ago

The best city I have ever been. But you will need google translate if want to communicate with most people.

4 years ago

Lived in Moscow for a year in 2019. I worked in the mornings and late evenings working in multiple locations across the city (mainly centre) and travelled via metro/walked. Never had safety concerns. M29yo

4 years ago

You can have MGTS landline internet 500mbps for $10/mo. Only swiss products in groceries, no EU due to current sanctions. Really cheap life, if you are rich i'd recommend AzbukaVkusa groceries. A lot of expensive restaurants.

5 years ago

I'm from Moscow though do not live there at the moment.
Actually it's a good city to live in if you enjoy big cities. Lots of activities (including lots of free ones), huge parks, very walkable, great public transportation, groceries are cheap, people are nice but seem cold because of their mentality. You can go to Moscow region by commuter train to enjoy the countryside or swim. Safety is underrated. Moscow is very safe, it's totally ok to walk at night, I had nothing stolen in 7 years of my living there as a student. Much safer than in Southern Europe I would say. Wifi speeds are skyrocketing and you can pay with card nearly everywhere. Yandex is a leading taxi hailing app (that bought Uber Russia).
On the other hand it's a giant city with 14 millions inhabitants, 4 airports (please don't use ZIA), 9 railway stations, so it can be quite a mess. No good food. Air quality is very low, returning from any other place I could literally smell the air. And winters (Nov - Mar) are grey and boring, snow is melting and freezing again, everything around is filthy, very depressing, that's why so many Russians who work remotely leave the country and spend winter somewhere in Southern Asia. Airbnbs are super expensive compared to local long-term rent boards like Avito. There you can also find options for several months but if you don't speak Russian you would need a local friend. The rent is expensive compared to St Petersburg and other Russian cities. Older people don't speak English.

5 years ago

Moscow is incredible for digital nomads. Lots of coworkings, including WeWork, plenty of bars, and restaurants. Nightlife is awesome - from usual nightclubs to techno spots etc. It is much more safe to there than in other European capitals (London, Berlin, Paris). You only need to be careful with illegal things like cannabis and other drugs because of zero tolerance. People are great, and girls especially.
People look unfriendly because they are not smiling to everyone, but it is just because of mentality.

6 years ago

Privet! I think Moscow is much cheaper then on scores and internet is much faster and if you spend summer time there then it is an amazing place!

7 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Great public transportation

✅ Very clean

✅ Lots of cultural activities

✅ Affordable cost of living

✅ Efficient taxi services

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

❌ Poor air quality

❌ Long travel times

❌ Cold and depressing winters

❌ Communication barrier (limited English spoken)

❌ High short-term rental prices

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ No democracy

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets very cold in the winter

❌ Very damp now

❌ Feels crowded

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ People smoking tobacco a lot

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

-6°C / 21°F freezing

-1°C / 30°F freezing

7°C / 45°F cold

16°C / 61°F cool

20°C / 68°F mild

23°C / 73°F mild

20°C / 68°F mild

11°C / 52°F cool

7°C / 45°F cold

0°C / 0°F freezing

-6°C / 21°F freezing

Real (median)

-6°C / 22°F
freezing

-6°C / 21°F
freezing

-1°C / 31°F
freezing

7°C / 45°F
cold

16°C / 60°F
cool

20°C / 67°F
mild

23°C / 73°F
mild

20°C / 68°F
mild

11°C / 52°F
cool

8°C / 46°F
cold

0°C / 32°F
freezing

-5°C / 24°F
freezing

Humidity

damp
89%

damp
83%

damp
88%

damp
74%

nice
68%

nice
59%

nice
56%

nice
65%

damp
78%

damp
76%

damp
84%

damp
88%

Most common

Rain

dry
49mm

dry
40mm

dry
37mm

dry
41mm

rainy
62mm

rainy
68mm

dry
25mm

dry
44mm

rainy
61mm

dry
28mm

rainy
57mm

rainy
51mm

Cloud

pockets
49%

pockets
44%

pockets
35%

pockets
38%

pockets
36%

pockets
23%

pockets
22%

pockets
36%

pockets
40%

pockets
35%

pockets
46%

pockets
47%

Air quality

clean
47 US AQI

clean
36 US AQI

okay
70 US AQI

okay
56 US AQI

okay
50 US AQI

clean
47 US AQI

clean
45 US AQI

okay
56 US AQI

clean
43 US AQI

okay
55 US AQI

okay
61 US AQI

Remote workers

1,648 people

1,965 people

1,744 people

1,562 people

1,882 people

1,875 people

1,800 people

2,392 people

2,025 people

1,830 people

1,726 people

1,989 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 Moscow's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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565pts

86pts

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8pts

7pts

6pts

5pts

121pts

70pts

59pts

37pts

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9pts

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94pts

62pts

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$1,423 / mo

22 Mbps

Belarus

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 6° 43° 7° 45°

✈️54min

$1,624 / mo

16 Mbps

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 10° 50° 11° 52° AQI 47

✈️2h

$3,530 / mo

🌇 Also went here200 people

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 17° 63° 17° 63° AQI 75 😷

✈️2h

$1,652 / mo

🌇 Also went here310 people

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

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	0.5/5 (Rank #1353) 637 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍7 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Bad
👶 Family score	Bad
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $2,389 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 13 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 7°C45°F (feels 6°C43°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 84%
💨 Air quality (now)	😐 Moderate: 57 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 52 US AQI
👌 Safety	🧨 Conflict / political instability*
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	🧨 Conflict / political instability*
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $721 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Okay
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Low density: 9k ppl/km² (1 per 11x11m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Okay
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Great
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Bad
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Russia
🗓️ Average trip length	23 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	13 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 7°C 45°F + 💦 Damp (84%) = feels 6°C 43°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 57 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 53 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Sokolinaja Gora
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Nizhegorodskij
🚕 Best taxi app*	Yandex Taxi
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 RUB in USD	USD 1.24
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	RUB 10,000 = USD 124
💸 Tipping	Yes, 12.50%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Coworkstation
💻 Best alt. coworking space	A-a-Ah
☕️ Best coffee place	More Vnutri
☕️ Best alt. coffee place	Starlite Diner
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place	Bosco
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍11% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	4,632,300 visitors
📸 Tourists now	88,778 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	13,000,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$8,655 / year
😤 Population density	🤨 busy: 11x11m (121m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 42% 👱‍♀️ 58%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 87% 👱‍♀️ 13%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Ozon
🏠 Apartment listings	Wimdu
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Aeroflot
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Aeroflot
🏥 Best hospital	MEDSI

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,389 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,780 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$3,715 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,062 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$976 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$2,414 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$855 / month
🏠 Median home price	$173,162
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$46 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$79 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$167 / month
🍛 Dinner	$9
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$3
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$3
👩‍🏫 International school	$10,859 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$3 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$1 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$3,000
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$6,000
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$15,000