Dutch freelancer organisation Hoofdkraan.nl has compiled a list of the top cities for freelancers to live in, and the beautiful Slovak capital Bratislava made it into the top ten, snuggling into eighth place from 117 cities. Here is the full report.
The 10 best cities for freelancers in 2017
What would be the best place to live as a freelancer, if you could choose to live everywhere? This is what Hoofdkraan.nl (link: www.hoofdkraan.nl), a Dutch platform that connects freelancers with companies, wondered. They conducted a research with 117 cities and looked at 23 factors that are important for freelancers. Guess what? Lisbon in Portugal is the best place to live as a freelancer! The combination of low prices, fast internet, good weather in summer and safety made it number one.
117 cities
Hoofdkraan.nl conducted an online research with 117 cities in more than 90 countries and researched 23 different factors. This included: peace, safety, freedom of speech, nightlife, distance to nature and beaches, clean air and the amount of activities you can do in your spare time. But it also included factors that are relevant for freelancers: tax amount, choice of places to work from, pricelevel, how good and fast the internet is, the availability of good coffee, how stable the electricity is and how easy it is to be an freelancer in that specific country.
Portugal is the best
According to this research Portugal is the best country in the world to live as a freelancer: not only is their capital Lisbon number one, their second biggest city, Porto, is number ten on the list. It is a safe country with good resources, fast internet in Lisbon (55MB), the weather is great in summer and mild in spring and fall, both cities are close to the beach, there is pretty nature to admire, good nightlife and the people who live there give the quality of life in their cities an 8,4 for Lisbon and 8,5 for Porto.
Top 10
The top 10 is:
1 – Lisbon, Portugal
Cheap, fast internet (55 MB), close to the beach
2 – Miami, USA
Great weather, fast internet (80 MB), highest quality of life (10)
3 – Seville, Spain
Cheap, good weather, fast internet (30)
4 – Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Great weather, close to beach and nature
5 – New Orleans, USA
Lots to do, great nightlife, high life quality (8,8), fast internet (35)
6 – Bristol, England
Safe, lots of places to work from, high life quality (8,8)
7 – Marseille, France
Lots of places to work from, small city, good nightlife
8 – Bratislava, Slovakia
Cheap, fast internet (30), lowest taxes from the top 10 (25%)
9 – Vancouver, Canada
Close to nature, beaches, peaceful, freedom of speech
10 – Porto, Portugal.
Good weather, beach close by, safe
(Link to the infographic: https://www.hoofdkraan.nl/upload_blog/blog/48/Best_Cities_for_freelancers_Infographic.png)
These 10 cities have in common that they are all in (relatively) safe countries, there is peace and freedom of speech. Next to that they have stable electricity and fast (above 10 MB) and reliable internet. The life quality is for all above 8, except for Bratislava that has been given a life quality of 7,6.
Best cities per continent
The top ten is filled with countries in Europe and the USA. But what are the best cities for the other continents?
The first city in Central or South America is Panama City, Panama on number 13. It is not that cheap but the country has low taxes, it is safe, clean and has average speed internet. The second is Sao Paolo, Brazil on number 39.
Wellington is the best city in Oceania on 15, with a beach in the city, not many inhabitants and great nature nearby. Perth is the second on 21. The best city in Asia is not a surprise for anybody: a cheap, vibrant city with lots to do, great nightlife, lots of places to work from and very international minded. Bangkok, Thailand is number 17, closely followed by a more surprising Taipei in Taiwan on 18. Taipei’s life quality has been rated a 9,4!
Cape Town is the best city to live as a freelancer of the continent Africa, on nr 40. Also not a surprise with great nature and beaches very close by, cheap, great weather and lots to do for everybody. Marrakesh, Morocco, is the second best for Africa as number 60 on the list.
Have a look at the complete list: https://www.hoofdkraan.nl/blog/the-10-best-cities-for-freelancers-in-2017/48
Worst cities
From the 117 cities Dhaka in Bangladesh came out as the worst city to live as a freelancer. The other 9 of the top 10 worst cities are: St Petersburg, Russia; Lagos, Nigeria; Beijing, China; Kathmandu, Nepal; La Paz, Bolivia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Jakarta, Indonesia and Nairobi, Kenya.
Most of these cities are cheap to live, but unsafe and dirty, the internet is slow and the electricity isn’t very reliable. There is no peace, no freedom of speech and these cities are not friendly for females or gays. The highest life quality given by people who live there is 6,2 for Jakarta. The other 9 cities score badly, under a 6.
Fun facts
If you don’t want to pay taxes, go live in the United Arab Emirates. They have no income taxes. Next is Sofia, Bulgaria with 13% tax. If you can’t work without your Frappuccino from Starbucks, you have to live in Seoul, South Korea (nr 50 on the list). There they have 284 Starbucks shops, even more than New York! Or is the surrounding nature for you the most important factor? Move to Cape Town where they have the biggest urban park, Table Mountain National Park (60.000 acres). The second biggest urban park is in Rio de Janeiro, the Pedra Branca State Park (30.626 acres)
Author: Hoofdkraan.nl
Hoofdkraan.nl (link: www.hoofdkraan.nl) is the online platform for freelance jobs in the Netherlands.