Digital Nomads Statistics 2026: Population, Demographics & Visa Data

18.5 million American workers were digital nomads in 2025, a 2.2% increase over the previous year, according to MBO Partners’ State of Independence study. Their number has grown 153% since 2019 and now makes up approximately 12% of the U.S. workforce. The digital nomads statistics below draw on MBO Partners, Global Citizen Solutions, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Gallup, and official government visa pages.

Most digital nomads now have traditional jobs working for employers. Before 2020, the majority were independent workers. That shift changes who carries the risk: nine in ten digital nomads (89%) report using AI in their work, and 13% of nomads with traditional jobs say their employers are unaware they are nomadic. The data covers population, demographics, AI use, travel habits, visa rules, and the US remote-work baseline.

Key Takeaways

• Digital nomads with traditional jobs rose 10% to 11.2 million in 2025, while independent nomads fell 7% to 7.3 million.
• Gen Z (35%) and Millennials (40%) together account for 75% of digital nomads, and Gen Z’s share in 2019 was less than 1%.
• 79% of digital nomads used AI in their work in 2024, compared with 60% of workers who are not digital nomads, and the 2025 nomad figure reached 89%.
• Nearly one-third of digital nomads with traditional jobs are hidden nomad employees: 13% say their employers are unaware, and 18% have a boss’s permission without a company policy.
• The average digital nomad visited 6.2 locations in 2025, compared to 7.2 in 2023, and averaged 6.4 weeks per stop.
• 82% of digital nomads report being highly satisfied with their work, yet only 11% have been digital nomads for more than five years.
• 21.9% of US people at work teleworked or worked at home for pay in September 2026, per the Current Population Survey.

Editor’s Choice

• US digital nomads in 2024: 18.1 million, or 11% of U.S. workers.
• US digital nomads in 2019: 7.3 million American workers.
• Aspiring nomads in 2025: 65 million adult Americans said yes (14 million) or maybe (51 million).
• Countries with digital nomad visas: 64 countries, per MBO Partners.
• Top country score, Global Digital Nomad Report 2025: Spain at 99.67.
• US independent workforce in 2026: a record 74.9 million people.
• Remote-capable US employees working exclusively remote: 26% as of 2026.

How many digital nomads are there in the US?

• MBO Partners counted 18.5 million American workers as digital nomads in 2025, approximately 12% of the U.S. workforce.
• The 2024 count was 18.1 million, an increase of 4.7% year over year, when 11% of U.S. workers called themselves digital nomads.
• MBO’s 2019 research found 7.3 million American digital nomads, an increase of 2.5 million from the previous year.
• MBO’s first digital nomad brief in 2018 counted 4.8 million independent workers who described themselves as digital nomads. That first count covered independent workers only, so it is not a like-for-like baseline for later years.
• The US added about 11.2 million digital nomads between 2019 and 2025.
• MBO reads the steady increases from 2023 to 2025 as evidence that digital nomadism has become an established part of the American working mainstream.
• In 2025, 65 million adult Americans who are not nomads said yes (14 million) or maybe (51 million) to becoming digital nomads over the next 2-3 years.
• MBO’s previous studies indicate that only about 6% to 8% of those aspirants will actually do so.

Source: MBO Partners 2024 and 2025 Digital Nomads Trends Reports

About This Data

Figures here are compiled from 14 sources: 5 MBO Partners research reports and releases, 3 government visa pages, 2 US Bureau of Labor Statistics releases, 2 Global Citizen Solutions publications, 1 Gallup study and 1 Airbnb SEC filing. They were published between 2018 and October 2026. Only sources publishing their own data qualified, and every US population figure comes from MBO’s survey series. Figures are reviewed on a rolling basis and updated when sources publish new editions.

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Remote Employees vs Independent Digital Nomads

• Digital nomads with traditional jobs increased by 10% in 2025, reaching 11.2 million compared to 10.2 million in 2024.
• Nomads with traditional jobs made up about 60.5% of all US digital nomads in 2025.
• Independent workers who are digital nomads declined 7%, from 7.9 million in 2024 to 7.3 million in 2025, a contrast with wider freelance economy trends.
• Almost three-quarters of that decline is due to fewer independent Baby Boomer digital nomads, and other reasons include rising costs, a weaker market for remote workers, and geopolitical unrest.
• In 2024, the pattern ran the other way: nomads with traditional jobs fell 5%, largely due to return-to-office mandates, while independent nomads rose 20%.
• Since the start of 2020, the number of digital nomads with traditional jobs has more than tripled.
• MBO describes a growing trend toward tethered nomadism, in which digital nomads continue to travel but remain within reach of their offices.
• The wider US independent workforce reached a record 74.9 million people in 2026, a pool tracked in the gig economy statistics.

Recent Developments

• September 28, 2026: MBO Partners’ Beeline’s 16th annual State of Independence study reported that the U.S. independent workforce reached a record 74.9 million people in 2026.
• September 28, 2026: The same study found that the number of full-time independent professionals has grown 114% since 2020, and full-time independents now represent 22% of all full-time U.S. workers.
• October 2026: The Current Population Survey for September 2026 showed 11.2% of US people at work teleworked some hours and 10.7% teleworked all hours.
• August 6, 2026: Airbnb’s second-quarter shareholder letter said in North America, growth in short-term stays continued to outpace long-term stays (trips of 28 days or more), extending a mix-shift trend seen for over a year.
• July 27, 2026: Gallup reported that in the technology sector, 47% of remote-capable employees are exclusively remote and just 9% work fully on-site.

AI and Technology Use Among Digital Nomads

• Nine in ten digital nomads (89%) report using AI in their work, and 88% say they’re advanced (42%) or intermediate (46%) AI users.
• In 2024, 79% of digital nomads reported using AI in their work, with 35% advanced and 51% intermediate users.
• Six in ten (60%) workers who are not digital nomads reported using AI in their work in 2024, with 24% advanced and 45% intermediate users.
• Digital nomads’ 2024 AI-use rate ran 19 points above that of other workers.
• AI use among nomads rose 10 points between 2024 and 2025.
• 83% report they are early adopters of technology, and 78% say they use technology to make themselves more competitive in their work.
• 85% say their work depends on digital connections and technology.
• 49% report earning money in the creator economy, which links nomad income to creator economy earnings data.

Key finding: MBO Partners’ 2025 survey found that 89% of digital nomads use AI in their work, 29 points above the 2024 rate for workers who are not nomads. That makes nomads an early read on how AI tools spread through a workforce that rarely sits inside a company network.

A workforce that adopts AI this fast, from laptops on hotel Wi-Fi, also widens the shadow AI usage problem. An employer that cannot see where the work happens is unlikely to see which tools touch it.

Hidden Nomad Employees and Compliance Risk

• 13% of digital nomads with traditional jobs reported that their employers are unaware they are nomadic.
• Combined, 31% of employee nomads fit MBO’s definition of hidden nomad employees, whose employers are unaware of their work location at any given time.
• Applied to the 11.2 million nomads with traditional jobs, that share equals about 3.47 million hidden nomad employees in 2025.
• The combined 2024 share was 36%, so the hidden share narrowed by five points in a year.
• MBO warns that hidden nomad employees could potentially break local employment laws and regulations without their employer being aware of it.
• Not knowing where employees are working from also introduces increased cybersecurity risks, as organizations may not be able to monitor or secure remote working environments effectively.

Source: MBO Partners 2024 and 2025 Digital Nomads Trends Reports

The security side of that gap is the same one tracked in our remote work security data, with one difference: here the employer often does not know the remote location exists.

Digital Nomads Statistics by Age, Gender and Race

• Gen Z, aged 18-29, in MBO’s study, makes up 35% of digital nomads, and Millennials, aged 30-44, make up 40%.
• In 2024, Gen Z accounted for 26% of digital nomads and Millennials for 38%.
• The share of Baby Boomer nomads fell from 11% in 2024 to 6% in 2025, while Gen X’s share dropped to 19%, down from 25% in 2024.
• MBO expects Gen Z will likely surpass Millennials as the top digital nomad generation over the next two to three years.
• Almost one in nine (11%) U.S. digital nomads are 55 or older.
• 56% of the digital nomads surveyed were men and 43% were female, with the small remainder nonbinary.
• More than half (54%) of all digital nomads are married or living with their partner.
• The African American share of digital nomads was 27% in 2025, up from 21% in 2023 and 13% in 2020.

Gen Z’s gain came almost entirely at the expense of older cohorts, the same generation whose habits fill our Gen Z social media data. The profile table adds gender, household, and race; respondents could provide multiple answers to the race question, so those rows do not sum to 100.

Source: MBO Partners 2025 Digital Nomads Trends Report; race allowed multiple answers

What is the average age of a digital nomad?

MBO Partners reports age bands rather than a single average. Its 2025 data places 75% of digital nomads in Gen Z (aged 18-29) or Millennials (aged 30-44), while almost one in nine (11%) are 55 or older. The typical nomad is therefore under 45, with a sizable older minority.

Digital Nomad Jobs, Education and Skills

• MBO’s 2024 list of main professions starts with information technology at 19% and creative services at 14%.
• Education and training (9%); sales, marketing, and PR (9%); finance and accounting (8%); and consulting, coaching, and research (7%) complete the 2024 list.
• The 2025 report’s main professions include information technology, creative services, sales, marketing and communications, finance and accounting, research and development, and consulting.
• 54% of digital nomads hold a college degree or higher, compared to 35% of adult Americans.
• 19% report an advanced degree, compared to 13% of adult Americans.
• In 2024, 52% had a college degree or higher and 18% an advanced degree.
• MBO’s 2019 data showed 83% of full-time independent workers worked remotely at least some of the time and 37% worked remotely full time.

What jobs do most digital nomads have?

Information technology leads MBO Partners’ 2024 list of main professions, with 19% of digital nomads in IT and 14% in creative services. Education and training, sales and marketing, finance and accounting, and consulting each account for 7% to 9%. Each of these jobs runs on a laptop and a connection, which is what makes it portable.

Travel Patterns and Slomading

• Nearly four out of ten (37%) digital nomads plan to spend more time in the U.S. next year and less time abroad, and only 17% intend to spend more time traveling internationally.
• 39% expect to travel exclusively within the U.S., while a mere 4% plan to spend the entire year outside the country.
• In 2024, 51% of digital nomads planned to travel exclusively in the U.S., up from 42% in 2022.
• Return-to-office policies often require digital nomads to stay within a reasonable distance of their job locations, and nomads desire to be closer to families and friends.
• The average digital nomad visited 6.2 locations in 2025, compared to 6.6 in 2024 and 7.2 in 2023.
• MBO calls this slower approach slomading: nomads are opting to stay longer at fewer destinations.
• Airbnb’s booking mix kept shifting toward shorter stays, according to its second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter: in North America, growth in short-term stays continued to outpace long-term stays (trips of 28 days or more).

The travel-plan shift sits alongside a change in pace. The table below tracks how many places the average nomad visited and how long each stay lasted across three survey years.

The chart shows where nomads plan to travel next, and the table below turns to how many places they visit and how long they stay in each one.

Source: MBO Partners 2024 and 2025 Digital Nomads Trends Reports

By the numbers: MBO Partners found the average digital nomad visited 6.2 locations in 2025, compared to 7.2 in 2023, while stays lengthened to 6.4 weeks per stop. Fewer, longer stays put a nomad on local networks, rentals and coworking spaces for weeks at a time, which reads more like relocation than tourism.

Satisfaction, Challenges and Burnout

• 82% of digital nomads reported being highly satisfied and 12% satisfied with their work, while few (3%) reported being dissatisfied.
• In 2024, 79% of digital nomads reported being highly satisfied with their work.
• About four out of five (81%) report being either very satisfied (41%) or satisfied (40%) with their income.
• Eight in ten (81%) say they are optimistic about the future of their career.
• The most cited difficulties are being away from family and friends (26%) and financial stress (26%), followed by personal safety (25%).
• Almost all (93%) say they definitely (58%) or maybe (35%) will continue to be digital nomads.
• Almost three-quarters (73%) have been digital nomads for three years or less.
• MBO estimates that each year, between 19% and 22% of digital nomads choose to return to a more traditional lifestyle.
• More than eight-in-ten (83%) of former digital nomads say they will (25%) or may (59%) return to digital nomadism.

High satisfaction and short tenure sit side by side: most nomads like the life and still leave it within a few years, then keep the option open to return.

Best Countries for Digital Nomads

• Spain ranks 1st in the Global Digital Nomad Report 2025 with a score of 99.67.
• Next come the Netherlands at 92.84, Uruguay at 91.23, and Canada at 90.42.
• France and Portugal share a score of 90.12, ahead of the UAE at 90.04.
• Global Citizen Solutions builds the report on 15 indicators covering procedure, citizenship and mobility, tax optimisation, economics, quality of life, and tech and innovation.
• Spain scored 89.12 in the 2024 edition, ahead of the Netherlands at 86.26 and Norway at 86.20.
• Greece, Spain, and Czechia each score 100.00 on citizenship and mobility.
• As of Global Citizen Solutions’ data through 2024, Spain is one of only three countries that grant direct access to citizenship for time spent as digital nomads, while 15 offer pathways to permanent residency.
• The UAE scores 99.00 on tax optimization, ahead of Seychelles at 98.78.

Which country is the best for digital nomads?

Spain is the top-ranked country in Global Citizen Solutions’ Global Digital Nomad Report 2025, with a score of 99.67. Behind it, the Netherlands scores 92.84 and Uruguay scores 91.23. In Global Citizen Solutions’ data through 2024, Spain is also one of only three countries that grant direct access to citizenship for time spent as digital nomads.

What is the cheapest country to live as a digital nomad?

India scores 99.96 on the report’s economic sub-index, ahead of Ecuador at 97.10 and Malaysia at 94.66. Indonesia (94.28) and Colombia (93.82) follow. The sub-index is a composite score rather than a price list, so it points to relative value, not a monthly budget.

Digital Nomad Visa Requirements by Country

• 64 countries have created digital nomad visas to help them compete for educated, high-earning nomads, according to MBO Partners.
• In 2020, 16 new digital nomad programs were introduced, followed by 13 in 2021 and another 16 in 2022.
• The Global Digital Nomad Report gathered data on digital nomad legislation in 65 different locations.
• Spain sets its 2026 minimum for a single applicant at 200% of the monthly Minimum Inter-professional Salary, approximately $2,900 per month.
• Spain adds 75% of that salary for the first accompanying family member and 25% for each additional member.
• Croatia grants digital nomads temporary stay for up to a maximum of eighteen months.

Source: Consulate General of Spain in Washington; Croatia Ministry of the Interior, 2026; Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2024

Which country has the easiest digital nomad visa?

Seychelles scores 96.20 on the procedure sub-index, ahead of Saint Lucia at 96.10 and Montenegro at 96.08 in Global Citizen Solutions’ report. The procedure score is the report’s closest measure of how easy a visa is to obtain, though income thresholds such as Japan’s still decide who qualifies.

Telework and Hybrid Work Context

• 21.9% of US people at work teleworked or worked at home for pay in September 2026.
• In March 2026, 22.6% of workers teleworked or worked at home for pay, and the telework rate ranged from 21.5% to 23.0% over the prior year.
• Workers aged 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 teleworked at 26.2% in September 2026, against 5.7% for those aged 16 to 24.
• The rate for workers aged 25 to 34 was 21.2%.
• As of 2026, 52% of remote-capable workers are hybrid, 26% are exclusively remote, and 22% are fully on-site.
• Remote-capable employees are roughly half of the total U.S. workforce.
• Hybrid workers spend 46% of their workweek on-site, or the equivalent of about 2.3 days.
• In 2025, federal hybrid work fell from 61% to 28%.

The national telework rate fell 1.8 points between September 2024 and September 2026, while MBO Partners’ nomad count rose from 2024 to 2025. Gallup’s split below covers only remote-capable employees, not the whole workforce.

Why it matters: Gallup counts 26% of remote-capable U.S. employees as exclusively remote, while MBO Partners finds nomads with traditional jobs grew 10% to 11.2 million. Nomadism no longer depends on a fully remote job; hybrid and tethered arrangements now carry part of it.

Conclusion

18.5 million American workers are digital nomads, approximately 12% of the U.S. workforce, and the growth now comes from employees rather than freelancers. Nomads with traditional jobs reached 11.2 million while independents fell to 7.3 million. That mix moves the questions from lifestyle to management: AI use, security, and where the work legally happens.

MBO expects Gen Z to likely surpass Millennials as the top digital nomad generation over the next two to three years, and 64 countries already compete for those workers with dedicated visas. Employers that write nomad policies now will see more of that workforce; those that do not will keep finding it after the fact.