The usual picture of a digital nomad is a freelancer with a laptop on a beach, but the numbers describe someone different. MBO Partners estimates that 18.5 million American workers were digital nomads in 2025, and 11.2 million of them held traditional jobs with an employer, while 7.3 million were independent workers.
That mix matters if you are considering the lifestyle, because most nomads are not escaping work. They are rearranging where and when they do it. I have run my own business on about 20 hours a week since 2018, and the lesson that carries over to nomads is that the number of hours you work has more influence on how long a lifestyle lasts than the location does.
This guide explains who digital nomads are, why most of them stop within a few years, and how a reduced-hours schedule, early visa and tax planning, and slower travel can make location freedom last.
Key Takeaways
- A digital nomad is a remote worker who lives in more than one location during the year, and most American nomads now hold traditional jobs rather than freelance work.
- The number of American digital nomads grew 153% between 2019 and 2025, reaching 18.5 million, according to MBO Partners.
- Few people stay in the lifestyle for long, because 73% of current nomads have been nomads for three years or less.
- A visa, tax residency, and employer permission are three separate questions, and each needs a clear answer before a long stay.
- A 20-hour work week can make the lifestyle easier to sustain, but no survey I found measures nomad working hours, so this is a reasoned recommendation and not a proven result.
What Is the Digital Nomad Lifestyle?
The digital nomad lifestyle is a way of working in which a person earns income remotely while living in a series of locations instead of one permanent home. MBO Partners notes that nomads defy a single definition, since some travel for years, some take working sabbaticals lasting several weeks to many months, and many never leave their own country.
DEFINITION
A digital nomad is a remote worker who uses technology to earn a living while living in more than one location during the year. The term covers employees, freelancers, and business owners, and it does not require international travel.
Counting nomads is harder than it looks. In its 2025 study, MBO Partners found that only 53% of people who described themselves as nomads met the study’s additional criteria, so any figure built on self-description will run higher than a figure built on a stricter test. The MBO figures also cover American workers only, which means they say nothing direct about nomads in other countries.
MBO Partners reports that 18.5 million American workers were digital nomads in 2025, a 2.2% increase over 2024 and a 153% increase since 2019, which is approximately 12% of the U.S. workforce. Source: MBO Partners, 2025 Digital Nomads Trends Report, based on the 2025 State of Independence study.
Who Is Actually Working as a Digital Nomad Today?
Most American digital nomads now hold traditional jobs. MBO Partners reports that nomads with employers increased 10% in 2025 to 11.2 million, up from 10.2 million in 2024, while independent nomads fell 7% to 7.3 million, down from 7.9 million.
The two groups moved in opposite directions for different reasons. MBO attributes the growth among employees to a rising number of company nomad policies and to what it calls tethered nomadism, in which a worker keeps travelling but stays close enough to return to the office when required. For independent nomads, MBO lists rising costs, a weaker market for remote workers, and geopolitical unrest as reasons for the decline.
The typical nomad is also younger than the stereotype of a retiree on a long trip suggests. In the 2025 study, 40% of nomads were Millennials and 35% were Gen Z, while 11% were aged 55 or older. The travel pattern is more local than the name implies, because 39% of nomads expected to travel only within the United States in the following year and only 4% planned to spend the entire year abroad.
Why Do Most Digital Nomads Stop Within a Few Years?
Most digital nomads stop because the combination of constant travel and constant work wears people down. In the MBO Partners 2025 study, 73% of current nomads had been nomads for three years or less, and MBO estimates that between 19% and 22% return to a more traditional lifestyle each year.
Only 11% of current American digital nomads have been nomads for more than five years, while 73% have been nomads for three years or less. Source: MBO Partners, 2025 Digital Nomads Trends Report.
Stopping is rarely a final decision. MBO found that 83% of former nomads expect to return to the lifestyle, with 25% saying they will and 59% saying they may. The pattern looks less like people abandoning the idea and more like people needing a pause that the original setup did not allow for.
What do nomads say is hardest?
MBO asked nomads to name their most cited difficulties. The shares below are the percentage of nomads who selected each challenge in the 2025 study.
| Challenge | Share of nomads citing it | What it points to |
| Being away from family and friends | 26% | Distance from existing relationships |
| Financial stress | 26% | Income that does not cover travel costs |
| Concerns about personal safety | 25% | Unfamiliar places and limited local knowledge |
| Travel burnout | 23% | Too many moves combined with full workloads |
| Working across time zones | 21% | Schedules that depend on other people’s hours |
| Feelings of loneliness | 19% | Too little time in one place to build a network |
Source for percentages: MBO Partners, 2025 Digital Nomads Trends Report. The third column is my interpretation, not survey data.
Loneliness appears lower in the survey than in the academic research, and the difference comes from method. In a 2024 study published in Media, Culture & Society, Cristina Miguel, Christoph Lutz, Rodrigo Perez-Vega, and Filip Majetic ran 30 in-depth interviews and described the nomad lifestyle as a continuum that may, but does not have to, lead to loneliness. They identified a lack of social support, often tied to not staying in a place long enough to build a network, as a factor that raises the risk. An earlier 2023 study from the same research group used 15 interviews and found loneliness and fear of missing out to be recurring themes. Interview studies of this size can identify a pattern, but they cannot say how many nomads experience it.
MBO also notes that the share of nomads citing these challenges has fallen since 2020, which it links to the growing number of destinations that cater to nomads.
How Does a 20-Hour Work Week Change the Digital Nomad Equation?
A 20-hour work week changes the equation by leaving more of each week for rest, local life, and slack in the schedule, which are the things that burnout, time zones, and isolation erode. The effect depends on income, because fewer hours only work when each hour earns enough to cover travel costs.
The income side is better supported than people expect. MBO reports that 81% of nomads are satisfied with their income, with 41% very satisfied and 40% satisfied, and it notes that many nomads work from low-cost places while earning from employers or clients in higher-wage countries. MBO calls this income and living-cost geo-arbitrage, and says it allows lower-income nomads to fund their travels and spend less time working to support themselves.
The pace of travel is also shifting toward the kind of schedule a shorter week supports. MBO describes a trend it calls slomading, in which nomads stay longer at fewer destinations, and says the approach fosters a more active social life and reduces the stress of frequent travel.
The average American digital nomad visited 6.2 locations in 2025, compared with 7.2 in 2023, and stayed an average of 6.4 weeks per location, up from 5.4 weeks in 2023. Source: MBO Partners, 2025 Digital Nomads Trends Report.
A 20-hour week leaves room to stay in one place long enough to make friends there, and that matters more to a nomad year than the next flight does.
Which travel style fits a reduced schedule?
| Travel style | Typical stay | Main strength | Main risk | Fit with a 20-hour week |
| Fast-moving nomad | Days to a few weeks | Many destinations in one year | Burnout, repeated visa and logistics work, thin social ties | Weak, because moving consumes working hours |
| Slomad | Several weeks to months | Time to build routines and local relationships | Visa limits on length of stay, boredom | Strong, because routines protect focused hours |
| Home base with extended trips | One to a few months away | Keeps a stable address, tax position, and social circle | Less variety, double housing costs | Strong, and the closest match to a workation |
Comparison based on my own assessment of the trade-offs, not on survey data. For the home-base option, see the guide on blending work and vacation.
How strong is the evidence behind this?
The chain I am describing runs from fewer hours, to slower travel, to stronger local ties, to less loneliness and burnout. The evidence supports the links separately and does not prove the whole chain. MBO does not report weekly hours worked, so no figure in this guide shows that nomads who work 20 hours stay in the lifestyle longer. Slower travel could also be a result of age or family circumstances and not a cause of wellbeing, and the loneliness research rests on 15 and 30 interviews. A reduced schedule can lower income as well, and financial stress is already one of the two most cited challenges at 26%. Treat the 20-hour approach as a design choice worth testing, not as a guarantee.
What Do Visas, Taxes, and Employers Require Before You Leave?
Visas, tax residency, and employer permission are three separate questions, and a nomad needs a clear answer to each before booking a long stay. A visa grants permission to be in a country, tax residency decides where income is taxed, and an employer’s consent decides whether the job allows working from that place.
Visas
MBO counts 64 countries that have created digital nomad visas, so most popular destinations now have a formal route. The details differ in ways that matter. According to the Royal Thai Embassy in Budapest, Thailand’s Destination Thailand Visa allows a stay of up to 180 days per entry and is valid for 5 years, and it is a special kind of tourist visa, which means holders cannot obtain a Thai work permit or work for Thai companies or Thai clients. The embassy’s page also lists the documents required, which change over time and by embassy. Spain ties the income requirement of its nomad visa to its national minimum wage and limits the share of income that can come from Spanish sources. I have left out the figure because published numbers for 2026 differed between sources, so confirm it with the consulate.
Tax
Many countries use a day count to decide tax residency, and 183 days is the figure most often quoted. The number is not universal, and several countries also weigh where your home, family, and economic ties are, so staying under a day count does not by itself settle your position. A nomad visa is an immigration document and does not decide your tax residency. Rules differ by country and change, so a cross-border tax adviser is worth the fee before the first long stay.
Employers
Employees have a separate exposure. MBO found that 13% of nomads with traditional jobs said their employer was unaware they were nomadic, and another 18% said their company had no nomad policy but their manager had given permission. Together that is nearly one-third of employee nomads working without a formal arrangement. If you are an employee, the flexible work arrangements negotiation guide covers how to ask for a written agreement, and the permission matters because an informal approval can disappear when the manager changes.
How Do You Set Up a Nomad Year Around 20 Hours a Week?
Set the 20-hour schedule and the income target first, then choose destinations and visas that fit them. A destination chosen before the schedule forces the schedule to bend around time zones, internet quality, and visa limits, and the working week is the part of the plan that is hardest to change once you are abroad.
Start with the income arithmetic. Work out what 20 hours of paid work earns per week, then compare that with a realistic monthly budget for housing, food, insurance, visas, and travel, including a reserve for the unplanned costs MBO’s respondents describe as financial stress. If the numbers do not meet, the options are a higher rate per hour, a cheaper destination, or a longer week, and it is better to learn that before leaving.
Next, fix your core hours. Choose four or five hours per working day that overlap with your clients or team, and protect them with the habits in the remote work routine guide. Work outside those hours should be the exception. After that, choose a base long enough to join a coworking space or a recurring community, since the research above links a lack of social support to loneliness.
Pick the income first and the visa second, because a visa cannot repair an income that does not cover the lifestyle.
What should you check before you book?
- Does 20 hours of paid work cover your monthly budget, including insurance, visas, and a reserve?
- Do you have written permission from your employer or a clause in your client contracts that allows work from the destination country?
- Which four or five core hours overlap with your clients, and does the destination’s time zone allow them?
- Is your stay long enough to join a coworking space or a recurring local group?
- Have you asked a cross-border tax adviser how the stay affects your tax residency?
Three mistakes appear often in this kind of plan. The first is treating the visa as a tax ruling. The second is travelling without telling an employer who has no policy. The third is trying to see too much, which raises the number of moves and the number of working hours lost to logistics. The boundary setting worksheet helps with a fourth problem, which is work expanding into free time once the office is a laptop.
Freedom of location is only useful when the workload leaves you with enough energy to use it.
Where to Go From Here
If you are curious about the lifestyle, I would not start with a one-way ticket. I would run a four-week trial in one place, using the schedule and the budget you would use for a full year, and then compare what you earned, what you spent, and how many of your core hours survived. A trial of that kind is a workation, and it gives you real numbers where a plan gives you assumptions.
If you run a business, read how reduced hours affect growth before you commit to a long absence. If your work follows the calendar, seasonal work can give you months away without a standing nomad arrangement. This week, the single most useful step is to calculate what 20 hours of your work pays and write it next to the cost of the place you have in mind.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I start as a digital nomad with minimal experience?
Starting as a digital nomad requires remote-capable income before it requires a destination. Confirm that your current employer or clients will allow remote work, run a four-week trial in one place, and keep your budget and schedule the same as they would be for a full year. Expand only after the trial shows that your income and working hours hold up.
What are the best destinations for digital nomads?
The best destination is the one whose visa rules, cost of living, internet quality, and time zone match your schedule. MBO counts 64 countries with nomad visas, and Thailand’s five-year Destination Thailand Visa and Spain’s telework visa are two examples with different income, stay-length, and work rules. Compare official government pages, not rankings, because the rules change.
How do digital nomads handle healthcare?
Digital nomads usually rely on international or travel health insurance, since a home-country plan often does not cover long stays abroad. Coverage terms, exclusions, and any insurance requirement attached to a visa differ by provider and country, so read the policy and the visa conditions before you book a long stay.
Can I be a digital nomad with a family?
Yes, many nomads travel with a partner or children. MBO found that 54% of nomads are married or living with a partner, and it expects more family nomads in the coming years. Schooling, healthcare, and visa rules for dependants add planning work, and slower travel with longer stays usually suits families better than frequent moves.
Can a digital nomad work only 20 hours a week?
A digital nomad can work 20 hours a week if each hour earns enough to cover travel and living costs. MBO reports that 81% of nomads are satisfied with their income and that geo-arbitrage lets some nomads work less, but it does not report weekly hours, so the evidence for a 20-hour schedule is indirect. Test the budget first and then reduce hours.
Sources and Further Reading
- MBO Partners, “2025 Digital Nomads Trends Report: A Niche Workforce Becomes Mainstream”, 2025.
- Royal Thai Embassy, Budapest, “Destination Thailand Visa (DTV)”, page updated February 2026.
- Miguel, C., Lutz, C., Perez Vega, R., and Majetic, F., “‘Alone on the road’: loneliness among digital nomads and the use of social media to foster personal relationships”, Media, Culture & Society, 2024.
- Miguel, C., Lutz, C., Majetic, F., Perez-Vega, R., and Sanchez-Razo, M., “It’s not All Shiny and Glamorous: Loneliness and Fear of Missing Out among Digital Nomads”, Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2023.