City in Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo is the capital, with 1.03 million people in the Distrito Nacional at the 2022 census and 2.77 million in its province. The foreign residents directorate of the Dirección General de Migración is based here, and the Lycée Français de Saint-Domingue is one of the international schools. [N1] [D1] [I1]
Why it is here
Why Santo Domingo is on the list.
A city is listed when there is evidence that people move there. This is the evidence.
- The 2022 census counts 1,029,110 people in Santo Domingo de Guzmán municipality, one of only two municipalities over one million (Santo Domingo Este has 1,029,117). The Santo Domingo province, which holds the wider urban area, has 2,769,588. [N1]
- The Dirección General de Migración's Dirección de Extranjería, which runs its Foreign Investment division (División Inversión Extranjera) for the rentista and pensioner residence applications, is at Autopista 30 de Mayo, Santo Domingo. [D1]
- The Lycée Français de Saint-Domingue teaches from nursery to the baccalauréat and lists an AEFE homologation on its site; the French education ministry's 2009 list of recognised schools abroad has its école, collège and lycée in Saint-Domingue. [I1] [I2]
- Expat.com's Santo Domingo guide, updated 11 December 2025, gives about 60,000 expats, mostly Haitian, Venezuelan, Spanish, American and Italian (a private estimate; no method is shown). [E1]
The Fernshore Index
How it grades, factor by factor.
Each grade is against a published measure, with its source and the date we checked it. It is research information, not advice. Where we have no figure, the row says Unknown.
Cost of living
83 of 100StrongCountry figure
Price level 0.385 of United States prices (2025).
Source: Price level index (GDP), Dominican Republic. Checked 15 October 2026.
Climate
8 of 100WeakOwn figure
Santo Domingo's own normals (WMO 78486): 2 comfortable months a year (January and February); the mean daily high is 30.0 °C in those two months and 30.5 to 32.4 °C in the rest. Rain is over 150 mm in May, July, August, September and October.
Source: Climate normals 1991–2020, Santo Domingo (WMO 78486). Checked 15 October 2026.
Safety
38 of 100MixedCountry figure
Global Peace Index 2026: 89th of 163 (79th in 2025).
Source: Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank (A3 map poster). Checked 15 October 2026.
Healthcare
45 of 100MixedCountry figure
WHO UHC service coverage index 73 (2023); the series was 77 to 78 in 2020 to 2022.
Source: UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1). Checked 15 October 2026.
Schools
UnknownCountry figure
Our research doesn't cover schools yet.
Community
UnknownCountry figure
Not covered by Expat Insider 2026
Lifestyle
UnknownCountry figure
Not covered by Expat Insider 2026
Work and career
15 of 100WeakCountry figure
Weak: no residence route for remote workers is in force (a digital nomad visa was a proposal in January 2026), and fixed broadband is 11.20 per 100 people (2024), under the 30 line. The one-year temporary residence on proof of solvency (RT-9) is not a remote-worker route and was not counted.
Source: Visa de nómada digital: qué es, cómo funciona y a quiénes beneficia; Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Dominican Republic; Residencia temporal (RT-9). Checked 15 October 2026.
Retirement
85 of 100StrongCountry figure
Strong on a judgement: pensioners (about US$1,500 a month) and rentistas (about US$2,000 a month) apply under Law 171-07 with no minimum age and no deposit. To be safe, have more than US$1,600 a month. Law 285-04 admits them as permanent residents and gives a definitive card after 10 years, but the DGM pages describe a one-year permit renewed over time. Mixed (50) if that is read as renewable only.
Source: Residencia por inversión en calidad de jubilado o pensionado; Residencia por inversión en calidad de rentista; Ley No. 171-07 sobre incentivos especiales a los pensionados y rentistas de fuente extranjera; Ley General de Migración No. 285-04. Checked 15 October 2026.
Internet
24 of 100WeakCountry figure
11.20 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people (2024).
Source: Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Dominican Republic. Checked 15 October 2026.
English
36 of 100MixedCountry figure
EF EPI score 503 (global rank 63), just above the 499 anchor. The page does not print its edition year.
Source: EF English Proficiency Index: Dominican Republic. Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, United States passport
UnknownCountry figure
Research for US passports is being checked
Visa, Canada passport
UnknownCountry figure
Research for CA passports is being checked
Visa, Australia passport
UnknownCountry figure
Research for AU passports is being checked
Visa, New Zealand passport
UnknownCountry figure
Research for NZ passports is being checked
The country
More on Dominican Republic.
Cities
Other cities in Dominican Republic.
Questions about Santo Domingo.
How many people live in Santo Domingo?
The 2022 census counts 1,029,110 people in Santo Domingo de Guzmán municipality, the Distrito Nacional; Santo Domingo Este has 1,029,117 and the whole province 2,769,588. Expat.com's guide, a private estimate with no method, says about 60,000 expats, mostly Haitian, Venezuelan, Spanish, American and Italian.
What do one-bedroom flats cost to rent in Santo Domingo?
Six asking rents seen on 15 October 2026 ran from RD$49,000 to US$1,500 a month (about US$794 to US$1,500), mostly priced in US dollars, in Naco, Los Cacicazgos, El Millón, Zona Universitaria and Serrallés. They are single adverts, not averages, and some include maintenance or internet.
Where do I apply for pensioner or rentista residence in Santo Domingo?
DGM's rentista page says its Dirección de Extranjería, Foreign Investment division, runs the service at Autopista 30 de Mayo, esquina Héroes de Luperón, Santo Domingo (weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.). You first need a residence visa from a Dominican consulate. Other offices are not confirmed.
What is the weather like in Santo Domingo, and when is hurricane season?
Mean daily highs run from 30.0 °C in January and February to 32.4 °C in September (1991 to 2020). Rain tops 150 mm a month in May and from July to October. Canada's government puts hurricane season from early June to the end of November and says even small storms can grow quickly.
Is Santo Domingo safe?
Canada advises a high degree of caution across the country: violent crime occurs mainly after nightfall in large cities, and petty theft and bag-snatching from motorcycles are frequent. It says pedestrians lack right of way, particularly in Santo Domingo. We found no safety figure for Santo Domingo alone.
Sources
Where each figure comes from.
Every figure on this page links to the page we read, with the date we checked it.
- [N1] Dominican Republic: municipal division, population by census, citypopulation.de (private compilation of the Oficina Nacional de Estadística, X Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda, 10 November 2022). Checked 15 October 2026. Santo Domingo de Guzmán municipality 1,029,110 (2022; 965,040 in 2010); Santo Domingo Este 1,029,117; Santo Domingo province 2,769,588. The ONE site itself refused automated access.
- [D1] Residencia por inversión en calidad de rentista, Dirección General de Migración (DGM), Dominican Republic. Checked 15 October 2026. Offered by the Dirección de Extranjería, División Inversión Extranjera; address Autopista 30 de Mayo, esquina Héroes de Luperón, Santo Domingo; weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Read through a text reader (r.jina.ai) because the DGM site refused direct requests.
- [I1] Lycée Français de Saint-Domingue, Lycée Français de Saint-Domingue (own site). Checked 15 October 2026. Home page: menu entry "Homologation AEFE"; classes "de maternelle à terminale"; site in French and Spanish. The AEFE's own directory was not opened.
- [W1] Climate normals 1991–2020, Santo Domingo (WMO 78486), National meteorological service of the Dominican Republic (WMO Climate Normals 1991–2020 via NOAA NCEI). Checked 15 October 2026. Santo Domingo (18°28′24″N 69°52′14″W, 14 m). Mean daily highs 30.0 °C (January, February) to 32.4 °C (September); rain 68.1 mm (January), 59.1 mm (February), 151.3 mm (May), 156.7 mm (July), 195.0 mm (August), 191.7 mm (September), 176.9 mm (October); 2 comfortable months.
- [I2] Bulletin officiel n° 25 du 18 juin 2009, annexe: établissements français à l'étranger, Ministère de l'Éducation nationale (France). Checked 15 October 2026. Under République dominicaine: "Lycée français, Saint-Domingue" with école, collège and lycée; "École française Théodore-Chassériau, Las Terrenas" with école only. A 2009 list, so it shows the school is long established, not its status today.
- [E1] Living in Santo Domingo: the ultimate expat guide, Expat.com (private expat guide). Checked 15 October 2026. Guide updated by Gineska on 11 December 2025. Key facts: population 1.0 million; expats 60,000; top nationalities Haitian, Venezuelan, Spanish, American, Italian. The estimate has no method.
- [C1] Price level index (GDP), Dominican Republic, World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2025: 38.51 (United States = 100; 38.5055), read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [S1] Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank (A3 map poster), Institute for Economics and Peace. Checked 15 October 2026. The Dominican Republic ranks 89th of 163 countries (score 2.038), marked down 10 places on the year. The poster is the one-page ranking; the full report was not opened.
- [H1] UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1), World Health Organization. Checked 15 October 2026. Dominican Republic: 73 out of 100 (2023), read from the WHO GHO API (UHC_INDEX_REPORTED) on 15 October 2026. The series was 77 to 78 in 2020 to 2022.
- [K1] Visa de nómada digital: qué es, cómo funciona y a quiénes beneficia, El Día (Dominican newspaper; private). Checked 15 October 2026. Published 20 January 2026. Says a digital nomad visa project for the Dominican Republic has been presented ("ya se presentó un proyecto de visa de nómada digital") and names no decree, resolution or law, so no remote-worker residence route is in force on this evidence. The Dirección General de Migración (DGM) pages opened list no such category (see K3).
- [K2] Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Dominican Republic, International Telecommunication Union, via the World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2024: 11.20 per 100 people (11.2046), read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [K3] Residencia temporal (RT-9), Dirección General de Migración (DGM), Dominican Republic. Checked 15 October 2026. Temporary residence valid for one year for a foreigner who intends to settle temporarily. Needs a residence visa (RS) and proof of solvency: a bank certification of at least RD$300,000 (or a property title), all Dominican. The page names no remote-work or digital nomad category. The DGM site answered direct requests with a security check, so the page was read through a text reader (r.jina.ai).
- [R1] Residencia por inversión en calidad de jubilado o pensionado, Dirección General de Migración (DGM), Dominican Republic. Checked 15 October 2026. A foreign pension of at least US$1,500 a month, plus US$250 for each dependant; salary does not count. Needs a residence visa (RS), police certificates for the last five years, a Dominican bank letter and a guarantee policy. Read through a text reader (r.jina.ai) because the DGM site refused direct requests.
- [R2] Residencia por inversión en calidad de rentista, Dirección General de Migración (DGM), Dominican Republic. Checked 15 October 2026. Residence "con vigencia de un año" for a foreigner with a permanent monthly income of at least US$2,000 from a foreign company or body; the documents show the income over five years (dividends, foreign property, foreign bank investment). Read through a text reader (r.jina.ai) because the DGM site refused direct requests.
- [R3] Ley No. 171-07 sobre incentivos especiales a los pensionados y rentistas de fuente extranjera, Congreso Nacional de la República Dominicana (copy published by the tax authority, DGII). Checked 15 October 2026. Article 3: pensioners US$1,500 a month, rentistas US$2,000, plus US$250 per dependant. Article 4: no minimum age. Article 8: renewal after the first year; the card is valid for two years and can be renewed. Article 10: the declared pension or rent is exempt from income tax.
- [R4] Ley General de Migración No. 285-04, Congreso Nacional de la República Dominicana (copy published by the law firm DrLawyer.com; private copy). Checked 15 October 2026. Article 33 lists "jubilados, pensionados o rentistas" among those admitted as permanent residents (the copy drops a numeral in that list). Article 46: a foreigner with 10 years or more as a permanent resident gets a definitive residence card. Article 75: a permanent resident card is valid for one year, then for four years, renewable. Later amendments and the regulation (Decreto 631-11) were not read.
- [F1] EF English Proficiency Index: Dominican Republic, EF Education First (private test-taker index). Checked 15 October 2026. Score 503, global rank 63. The page does not print its edition year; it is the live country page read on 15 October 2026.