AI generatedn° 953, middle east
Tehran, iran.
For travellers who can carry cash, accept a guide if their passport requires one, and avoid winter. Skip if you need card payments, online banking access, or breathable air December through February.
- cost / mo
- $1,315
- internet
- 35 Mbps
- visa-free · eu
- 15 days
the scores
Four scores, seven components each.
Each ring is a weighted blend, click any of them to see the seven components that produce it.
your monthly budget
default $700–$4,500 range · drag to personalize
score priority
balanced weighting, cost 25%, infra 40%, lifestyle 35%
weighted blends of cost, internet, safety, climate, english, visa & social density. Default cost band: $700–$4,500/mo. 53% data coverage. Each ring is clickable, see exactly why a city scored what it did.
monthly cost · estimate
$1,315/mo
Component-level data not yet collected for this city.
in one sentence · curated
Hand-written by the ExpatWhy editorial team.
Tehran is a 9.5-million-person capital that runs on a dual-rate economy, no Western cards, and air you can taste five months of the year.
editorial
The case & the friction.
ExpatWhy editorial
A studio in Tajrish or Elahiyeh in the north runs 200-350 million IRR/month (about $290-500 at the open-market rate near 700,000/$1, or a meaningless $4,800-8,300 at the official 42,000/$1 rate nobody actually uses). Bring cash in euros or USD, change it at a sarafi in Ferdowsi Square, and carry it. No Visa, no Mastercard, no Stripe, no SWIFT, sanctions mean every Western card you own is dead at the border.
The friction is the air. From November to March, thermal inversion traps smog against the Alborz mountains and PM2.5 routinely passes 100, sometimes 200. Schools close. Locals leave. Spring (Farvardin, late March-April) and autumn are when Tehran is actually liveable, clear days, snow on Tochal, the Grand Bazaar busy, Tabiat Bridge full at sunset.
Visa: 30-day visa on arrival for many EU passports at IKA airport for $75-150. US, UK, and Canadian passport holders cannot do VOA, you need a pre-approved tour visa with a licensed guide on a fixed itinerary. Plan four to eight weeks. Persian opens every door; English gets you Azadi Tower and Golestan Palace and not much else.
verdict
For travellers who can carry cash, accept a guide if their passport requires one, and avoid winter. Skip if you need card payments, online banking access, or breathable air December through February.
work & connectivity
Getting work done.
work-friendly density · OSM
Strong for laptop work.
coworking spaces
2
wifi cafés
92
In practice: Workable but thin, 2 coworking spaces and 92 wifi cafés. A hotel-with-desk or one good coworking membership covers most days.
© OpenStreetMap contributors · Overpass API · ODbL 1.0 · 2026-07-09
when to visit
Twelve months of weather.
best month
May
Visit in May, 22°C, only 38mm of rain.
Off-season February–March, weather turns to 6°C and 57mm of rain, and hotel rates typically drop 20–40% from peak.
temperaturerainfallcurrent monthbest month
air quality · 12 months verified
When the air turns.
Hourly PM2.5 averaged by calendar month from Copernicus CAMS satellite data, window 2025-07-08 → 2026-07-07. WHO annual guideline is 5 µg/m³.
annual mean
41.8µg/m³
Unhealthy
worst month
Nov · 67 µg/m³
Very unhealthy
cleanest month
Jun · 27 µg/m³
Unhealthy (sens.)
annual swing
40 µg/m³
Stable year-round
Cleanest air in June (27 µg/m³); worst in November (67 µg/m³).
Annual mean 41.8 µg/m³ is unhealthy for everyone, mask + air purifier are non-negotiable, and November is genuinely dangerous outdoors. The 40 µg/m³ swing between worst and best month is large, month-of-travel matters more here than in stable cities.
Source: Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) via Open-Meteo Air Quality API · CC-BY 4.0. Modelled, not measured at a station: near coasts CAMS counts sea salt as PM2.5 and reads high against ground networks. Read the curve, not the absolute.
natural risk
The numbers other sites don't show.
seismic risk · 50 yr · 200 km
Low seismic exposure.
M5+ events
21
M6+ events
2
largest
M6.3
Largest recorded: M6.3 in 2004.
In practice: Moderate seismic background (21 M5+ in 50 years), modern construction handles this well, but verify building era for older rentals.
Source: USGS Earthquake Catalog (public domain) · counted within 200 km, last 50 years.
tropical storms · 46 yr · 200 km
Outside the cyclone belt.
named storms
0
cat 1+ hurricanes
0
In practice: No tropical storms tracked within 200 km in 46 years, no storm-season window to plan around.
Source: NOAA IBTrACS v04r01 (public domain) · unique storm IDs within 200 km since 1980.
–Tehran is a 9.5-million-person capital that runs on a dual-rate economy, no Western cards, and air you can taste five months of the year.
quality of life
LGBTQ+ legal protections rank in the bottom decile globally, verify your situation before settling.
0.7
/10
Velasco LGBT+ Policy Index (OWID), country-level, varies by neighborhood
Velasco LGBT+ Policy Index
Asher & Lyric Index 2024
ERA5 reanalysis · 12-mo derived
derived from monthly rainfall
vs Berlin 09–17 · Asia/Tehran
–For travellers who can carry cash, accept a guide if their passport requires one, and avoid winter. Skip if you need card payments, online banking access, or breathable air December through February.
ExpatWhy editorial
what to know
Pros & cons.
pros
- Budget-friendly for solo nomads
cons
- Slow average internet speeds
- High air pollution (annual PM2.5)
- Short visa-free stay (<60 days for EU)
visa & stay
How long can you stay?
- digital nomad visa
- No, not yet
- visa-free for EU passport
- 15 days
- visa-free for US passport
- –
visa figures as of August 2026 · verify with official immigration sources before traveling
before you go
What to plan around.
Drawn only from the verified figures on this page, the things worth knowing before you book.
US passport: visa needed before arrival
US passports need a visa arranged in advance, there is no visa-free entry to plan around.
EU passport: short visa-free window, 15 days
EU passports get 15 visa-free days. For a longer stay, plan an extension or a border run before day 15.
Intense summer heat
Aug averages 33°C. Plan air-conditioned workspace and avoid midday outdoor commitments at the peak.
Seasonal air-quality dip
PM2.5 climbs to about 67 µg/m³ around Nov, well above the WHO guideline. Sensitive lungs should plan around it.
Seismically active region
2 quakes of M6+ within 200 km over 50 years (strongest M6.3). Know your building's earthquake rating before signing a lease.
compare side-by-side
Tehran versus three popular alternatives.
you might also like
Where to go next.
Closer on the map, closer on the wallet, or closer on the way it feels.
closest on the wallet
Other budget cities, different continent.
Same band as Tehran, budget (under $1,500/mo), outside middle east.
europe
8.0Cluj-Napoca, romania.
A budget europe option with a nomad-visa pathway.
europe
7.8Córdoba, spain.
A budget europe option with a nomad-visa pathway.
europe
8.2Rotterdam, netherlands.
A budget europe option with a nomad-visa pathway.
closest on the way it feels
Same wellbeing, different climate.
Cities that score like Tehran on quality-of-life but trade arid for something else.
asia
5.9Goa, india.
A budget asia option with limited visa-free access.
asia
5.8Qingdao, china.
A budget asia option with limited visa-free access.
asia
5.8Dalian, china.
A budget asia option with limited visa-free access.
frequently asked
Tehran, honest answers.
- How much does it cost to live in Tehran per month?
- Solo monthly burn in Tehran is estimated around $1,315, covering a central 1-bedroom, food, mobile, utilities, transit, and a small coworking allowance. This is a pipeline estimate; rent verified for cities marked with the ✓ badge.
- What visa do I need to live in Tehran?
- EU passports get 15 days visa-free; US passports get – days. Longer stays require a residence permit or remote-worker visa, verify at the country's official immigration site.
- How is the air quality in Tehran?
- Annual PM2.5 averages 42 µg/m³ (Copernicus CAMS satellite data), which consistently unhealthy, bring N95s and watch the 12-month curve. The 12-month curve on this page shows the seasonal swing, many cities have a sharp burning season or winter inversion that doesn't show in the annual number.
- When is the best time to visit Tehran?
- May typically scores best on our combined comfort index, average temperature 22°C, low rainfall, high sunshine. Each city's Climate Chart on this page shows the full 12-month picture.
- Are there earthquakes in Tehran?
- Yes, the USGS catalog records 21 M5+ earthquakes and 2 M6+ within 200 km over the last 50 years. The largest was M6.3 in 2004. Modern buildings in major cities are engineered for this; factor it into long-stay decisions.
Every answer is built from this city's verified pipeline data, Copernicus CAMS, USGS, NOAA IBTrACS, country tax authorities, EF EPI, Asher & Lyric, OpenStreetMap. No marketing copy.
where it is
Tehran on the map.
Tehran, Iran, Middle East.
35.6892, 51.3890
Map tiles & data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
primary sources · click to verify
Every number on this page comes from somewhere.
- ppp-estimate:region-base-rent (Middle East)
- internet-speed:regional-fallback (Middle East)
- Copernicus CAMS· CC-BY 4.0Air quality: Copernicus CAMS via Open-Meteo Air Quality API (CC-BY 4.0)
- OpenStreetMap· ODbL 1.0OpenStreetMap contributors (Overpass API, ODbL)
- Open-Meteo (ERA5)· CC-BY 4.0open-meteo.com (current + 2024 archive)
We aggregate from public primary sources only. Composite scores (nomad / solo / family / wellbeing) are derived using our own formula, see methodology. Full license map at /LICENSES.md.
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