Prague ranked among world's top 25 cities for freelance workers

Price-comparison site Compare The Market has named Prague the 25th-best city in the world for freelance workers in a widescale study that assessed several variables.

In its methodology, Compare The Market took into account seven factors: average salaries; freelancer-job vacancies; income tax rates; electricity prices; the number of co-working spaces; internet speed; and the amount of Wi-Fi hotspots. 

The Czech capital’s relative low cost of living compared to some of its western and northern neighbors, moderate tax rates, strong number of co-working spaces, and high average internet speed put it in the world’s top 25 cities for freelancers.

Earlier this year, a separate study by electronics company Brother UK ranked Olomouc and Pilsen as among Europe’s best cities for remote workers – but notably omitted Prague from the list.

Czechia’s introduction of its so-called digital nomad visa (part of the Digital Nomad Program) last summer will make it much easier for citizens of several countries worldwide to obtain a temporary visa in order to work legally as freelancers in Czechia and gain residency rights.

It is accepting applications from Australia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, the UK, and the U.S. Other visa options require a freelance business contract (Živnostenský list), and can be tricky to set up within the first few months of moving to the country.

In Compare The Market’s study, New York, London, and San Francisco took the top three spots respectively. Of EU countries, Paris performed best (ranking sixth overall internationally) and nearby Warsaw came second (coming in eighth position).