Dubai Is Among World’s Best Cities for Freelancers

July 15, 2020

A new study by Carphone Warehouse has revealed The 30 World’s Best Cities for Freelancers analyzing metrics such as internet high speed, monthly salary, co-working spaces amongst others.

Carphone Warehouse looked at how cities fare on employment rate, average monthly salary, a number of co-working spaces, internet speed and commute satisfaction (apologies if being stuck in traffic is on your traveling bucket list).

The table takes into consideration 10 metrics split across three categories:

What it’s like to work there: looking at employment rate, average monthly salary, number of co-working spaces available, commute dissatisfaction and internet speed.
What it’s like to live there: incorporating cost of living, monthly rent and healthcare ratings.
What options there are to have fun there: factoring in a leisure activity score out of 100 and a quality of life measure.

The best cities for work

Carphone Warehouse looked at how cities fare on employment rate, average monthly salary, number of co-working spaces, internet speed and commute satisfaction (apologies if being stuck in traffic is on your travelling bucket list). Dubai in the United Arab Emirates tops this category, scoring well for employment rate and commute satisfaction. London, UK follows in second place and Austin, Texas in the USA comes third – also nabbing a top score for monthly salary. Elsewhere, Hong Kong scores top marks for internet speed, Delhi does well for co-working spaces while Chiang Mai and Canggu boast great commuter satisfaction.

General cost of living

As for the general cost of living, monthly rent for a one-bedroom in the city centre, and quality of healthcare, Medellín, Colombia wins at life, scoring healthily across all three metrics. Chiang Mai, Thailand follows in second place with a top score for healthcare while third place goes to Lahore, Pakistan with the lowest cost of living and the lowest monthly rent across all 30 cities.

Other top scorers include Delhi for the cost of living, and Dhaka, Delhi, Cairo, Buenos Aires and Canggu for monthly rent. For healthcare, Toulouse holds a strong second place while Barcelona gets third.

Fun factor

Austin, Texas boasts an impressive performance scoring top marks for both leisure activities and quality of life. Melbourne, Australia gets a close second overall while Berlin, Germany lands in a comfortable third position.

In general, several cities scored enviously well for their leisure activities: Barcelona, London, Athens, Hong Kong and São Paulo all got 5/5 from nomads currently living in the cities. As for the quality of life, high scorers include Melbourne, Amsterdam, Toulouse and Montréal.

Top 10 Cities for Freelancers across three categories: