The best countries for expats

"Best countries for expats" usually means "places the writer liked." This is a transparent composite instead: each country is scored on how easily a foreigner can get a long-stay visa, how accessible healthcare is, how foreign income is taxed, whether there's a path to residency, how widely English is spoken, and everyday safety. One representative city links from each row. The result favours places that are genuinely livable for a newcomer, not just pleasant to visit.

CountryExpat-friendliness (0–100)

Income floors, tax basis, and residency paths from our country feasibility data (directional). Immigration and tax rules change — verify current rules with official sources before you move. Updated 2026-06.

A high score means a country is easy to land in and live in as a foreigner — it doesn't mean it's right for you. The assessment re-weights these same factors around what you're actually optimizing for, which is how a generically "good for expats" country becomes the one that fits your life.

Common questions

What is the best country for expats?

It depends on what you weight, but the strongest all-rounders pair an easy long-stay visa with accessible healthcare, fair tax treatment of foreign income, and a real path to residency — the ranking above scores countries on exactly that. For Americans specifically, Portugal, Spain, Mexico, Panama, and Uruguay tend to score well.

Which countries are easiest for Americans to move to?

Among the countries we cover, the easiest combine a straightforward visa route with a low income floor: several Latin American options (Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay) plus Portugal and Spain in Europe. Each country page details the specific route, income requirement, and tax treatment.

How is the expat-friendliness score calculated?

It's a transparent composite of our sourced country data: visa accessibility, healthcare access for foreigners, tax friendliness for foreign earners, whether nomad/retirement routes and a residency path exist, plus an English and safety read aggregated from the cities we cover. It's directional, not an official index.

Which of these fits you?

A list is a place to start, not a way to choose. The assessment reads every city through your relocation profile — and surfaces the ones that fit the life you’re trying to build.

Take the assessment →