2.14/5
194 reviews
Photo by Kelly Hofer via Unsplash

Calgary

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good

downtown

cold

long

climate

nice

sports

outdoor

activities

nearby

short

drive

mountains

core

recession

dry

economy

oil

gas

Calgary is a clean and well-maintained city with excellent infrastructure and strong appeal for outdoor enthusiasts. Residents have easy access to a wide range of activities from skiing and snowboarding in nearby mountains to motocross, mountain biking, and skydiving within or close to the city. It’s a great place for physically active individuals and also offers a family-friendly environment, especially for those with stable or high income. Recreational sports leagues are well-organized and there’s a unique variety of options available compared to many other cities.

However, the city has its drawbacks. The climate tends to be cold and dry, with short summers, which may not be ideal for everyone. The local economy has been in a downturn largely due to its reliance on oil and gas, and recovery still depends on diversification. Social life may feel isolating to some, with locals generally described as reserved and unfriendly, and dating can be particularly tough for male newcomers. The city still feels automobile-centric beyond the core, although improvements to public transit are underway. Overall, Calgary suits families and outdoor lovers but may not be appealing to those seeking an active nightlife or social connectivity.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Nice clean city with lots to do if you're into sports and outdoor activities. Pretty good rec leagues (hockey, baseball, etc.) and probably the only city in North America with a full motocross track in the city centre. Also have kart racing nearby (Strathmore) and indoor/outdoor skydiving. Also lots of mountain biking, rock climbing, and hiking within a short drive (Maclean Creek, Drumheller, mountains). Obviously great snowboarding and skiing both in the city (Canadian Olympic Park) and nearby mountains.

For those who aren't into sports or the like the city might be a bit boring. The downtown core is coming back after the recession but still not as lively as many other metropolitans. Definitely a car based city once you get outside the city core but city is investing in subway system so that might get better in next few years.

3 years ago

I've lived here all my life. Its cold, dry , but sunny usually . Summers are short. Job opportunities are ok for well educated only. Economy has been in a long term downturn due to an oil and gas base. Used to be much better economy (pre-2014). Currently over 25% vacancy in downtown buildings you see in photos of downtown office towers. Recovery will depend on a successful transition to tech and other industries considering climate change initiatives away from oil and gas. People stick to themselves here a lot compared to other countries. Generally polite but not friendly. Females are extremely closed and hard to meet here, Most are unattractive and overweight anyways. So definitely not a dating hotspot for male nomads. Good for families however, if you earn good money. And there is good scenery, infrastructure is excellent, and close to the mountains and outdoor activities, if you don mind the cool to cold climate.

4 years ago

Don't Expect to make any friends if you're immigrant after living there for 2 year. Food is suck , Weather is suck , it is long and cold AF
Most Canadian here is closed minded like other said it made me depress so much of living here

6 years ago

Nice city if you drive only. The public transportation is a joke here and the winters are long and cold.
Good parts - there are still jobs even in recession, beautiful scenery, dry climate compared to the East coast of Canada. Hard to make friends if you are an immigrant even after ten years. Despite the false sense of canadian openness - people do not care about warm, human relationships, the majority is interested in career or prefer to stay in their bubble, closed-minded. Europe is much more attractive than this place, socially speaking.

6 years ago

✅ Very clean

✅ Great outdoor sports and activities

✅ Excellent infrastructure

✅ Good for families

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm now

✅ Perfect humidity now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Good hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Cold climate

❌ Struggling economy

❌ Unfriendly locals

❌ Not ideal for dating

❌ Car dependent

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Not much to do

❌ Gets very cold in the winter

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

-3°C / 27°F freezing

-8°C / 18°F freezing

4°C / 39°F cold

9°C / 48°F cold

12°C / 54°F cool

22°C / 72°F mild

24°C / 75°F warm

21°C / 70°F mild

18°C / 64°F cool

9°C / 48°F cold

2°C / 36°F cold

-11°C / 12°F freezing

Real (median)

-1°C / 31°F
freezing

-6°C / 22°F
freezing

5°C / 41°F
very cold

10°C / 49°F
cold

12°C / 54°F
cool

22°C / 71°F
mild

24°C / 75°F
warm

21°C / 69°F
mild

17°C / 63°F
cool

10°C / 50°F
cold

4°C / 39°F
very cold

-8°C / 18°F
freezing

Humidity

nice
62%

nice
61%

nice
60%

nice
52%

nice
58%

nice
57%

nice
65%

nice
59%

nice
53%

nice
56%

nice
60%

nice
59%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
15mm

dry
16mm

dry
23mm

dry
27mm

rainy
69mm

rainy
57mm

rainy
61mm

rainy
65mm

dry
24mm

dry
29mm

dry
8mm

dry
18mm

Cloud

pockets
30%

pockets
38%

pockets
31%

pockets
29%

pockets
38%

pockets
24%

pockets
22%

pockets
30%

pockets
31%

pockets
33%

pockets
44%

Air quality

clean
28 US AQI

clean
37 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
20 US AQI

clean
22 US AQI

clean
18 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
18 US AQI

clean
25 US AQI

clean
29 US AQI

clean
26 US AQI

Remote workers

289 people

275 people

333 people

360 people

527 people

775 people

538 people

640 people

511 people

350 people

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

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	Tech Cofounder CTO @ Founders Factory
	Senior Backend Engineer @ HockeyStack
	Frontend Software Engineer @ Bitwise Asset Management

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

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$1,547 / mo

🌇 Also went here66 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 29° 83°

✈️18h

$4,142 / mo

🌇 Also went here56 people

400 remote workers in Calgary now, of which 2+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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	2.14/5 (Rank #816) 194 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍3 liked it 👎3 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	🧐 Very expensive: $4,479 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 25Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Perfect: 22°C72°F (feels 22°C72°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 35%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 35 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 21 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Great
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very high: $3,513 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Great
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Okay
🏥 Hospitals	Good
😄 Happiness*	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
👩 Female friendly	Okay
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	North America
🚩 Country	Canada
🗓️ Average trip length	13 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	25 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 22°C 72°F + 😊 Comfy (35%) = feels 22°C 72°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 35 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 21 US AQI
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Manchester Industrial
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Beltline
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 CAD in USD	USD 7.30
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	CAD 100 = USD 73
💸 Tipping	Yes, 15%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Assembly
💻 Best alt. coworking space	AcceleratorYYC
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
♻️ Return rate	👍13% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	1,200,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$42,154 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 49% 👱‍♀️ 51%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 53% 👱‍♀️ 47%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 82% 👱‍♀️ 18%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Best Buy
🏠 Apartment listings	rRentfaster
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	West Jet
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Canada

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$4,479 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,608 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$5,475 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,564 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$3,071 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,013 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,218 / month
🏠 Median home price	$416,165
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$144 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$99 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$463 / month
🍛 Dinner	$17
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$5
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$4
👩‍🏫 International school	$18,065 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$46 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$5 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$12,825
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$34,643
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$109,369