Living in Road Town, British Virgin Islands
Road Town is a smaller coastal city in the British Virgin Islands (under 250,000 people in the city proper). It has a warm climate, averaging 27°C over the year with about 1,209 mm of rain. We estimate a couple needs about €3,360 a month to live centrally, and the British Virgin Islands sits in our zero or very low tax tier. For foreigners, long-term residency in the British Virgin Islands is hard to obtain.
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- Est. cost
- €3,360
- a month for a couple
- Tax tier
- Zero or very low
- personal income tax
- Climate
- 27°C
- 1,209 mm rain a year
- Size
- Smaller
- under 250,000 people
- Safety
- 78/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~90 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
- Residency
- Hard to obtain
- for most foreigners
What stands out about Road Town
- No or very low personal income tax
- Safer than 92% of the cities we compare
- Warmer than 85% of the cities we track
- Long-term residency is hard to obtain
- English is widely spoken
Taxes
The British Virgin Islands sits in our zero or very low tax tier: little to no personal income tax. We use three tiers (zero or very low, low to medium, high) and apply them to every city in the country.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Country-level and coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Hard to obtain. Long-term stay realistically comes via an employer-sponsored, quota-limited work permit or a discretionary financial-self-sufficiency residence certificate; there is no operational investment route, and permanent residence requires 20 years of consecutive residence.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).
Safety and stability
The British Virgin Islands scores 78 out of 100 on safety, safer than 92% of the cities we compare. Its EIU Democracy Index score is 7.5 out of 10.
Source: Our own country-level safety estimate (0 to 100, higher is safer), shared by every city in the British Virgin Islands. Stability: EIU Democracy Index.
Language and culture
Main languages: English. English proficiency: native or near-native. Social openness scores 70 out of 100.
Source: EF English Proficiency Index (country-level); social openness is our secularism and tolerance composite.
Climate
Road Town averages 27°C across the year with about 1,209 mm of rain, which makes it warm and wet. It is warmer than 85% of the 1225 cities we track, and it sits on the coast.
Source: Temperature from the Open-Meteo historical weather archive, daily means for 2019 to 2023; rainfall from TerraClimate (University of Idaho) 1991 to 2020 normals. Annual averages; monthly breakdowns are not in our dataset yet.
Cost of living
We estimate a couple needs about €3,360 a month to live centrally in Road Town, 23% above the €2,729 median across the 900 cities we compare. That makes it more affordable than 28% of them.
Source: OurNextCity model: a country-level cost index (New York = 100) scaled up for larger cities. An estimate for comparing cities, not a budget.
Healthcare
The British Virgin Islands scores 70 out of 100 for healthcare, stronger than 71% of the cities we compare.
Source: Our own country-level healthcare estimate (0 to 100), shared by every city in the British Virgin Islands.
Internet and remote work
Median fixed broadband in the British Virgin Islands runs at about 90 Mbps, faster than 36% of the cities we compare.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index, median fixed broadband download speed, country-level.
Questions couples ask about Road Town
Is Road Town a good place to live for couples?
It depends on what the two of you weigh most. Compared with the other cities we track, Road Town scores well on safety, healthcare and English. It is weaker on affordability. Expect a warm, wet climate (27°C average). OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Road Town and 914 other cities for both of you at once.
How much does it cost a couple to live in Road Town?
We estimate about €3,360 a month for a couple living centrally, 23% above the €2,729 median across the cities we compare. It is a model estimate from a country-level cost index adjusted for city size, so use it to compare cities rather than to set a budget.
What are taxes like in Road Town?
The British Virgin Islands is in our zero or very low tax tier (little to no personal income tax). Tiers are country-level and deliberately coarse: zero or very low, low to medium, and high.
Can foreigners live in the British Virgin Islands long term?
Our assessment: hard to obtain. Long-term stay realistically comes via an employer-sponsored, quota-limited work permit or a discretionary financial-self-sufficiency residence certificate; there is no operational investment route, and permanent residence requires 20 years of consecutive residence.
What is the weather like in Road Town?
Road Town averages 27°C across the year with about 1,209 mm of rain, which makes it warm and wet. It is warmer than 85% of the cities we track.
Cities like Road Town
Closest matches in other countries across climate, size, coast, cost, safety, healthcare, internet, language and politics.