Hong Kong vs Singapore for couples
Hong Kong and Singapore are about 2,587 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Hong Kong leads on residency rules; Singapore on safety and getting by in English.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Close on cost: we estimate about €4,423 a month for a couple living centrally in Hong Kong and €4,469 in Singapore.
Taxes
A tie: Hong Kong and Singapore both sit in our low to medium tax tier.
Climate
Singapore is 4°C warmer on average over the year: 27°C against 23°C in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is drier, with about 1,944 mm of rain a year against 2,639 mm in Singapore (26% less).
Safety
Singapore is the safer pick: Singapore scores 90 out of 100 on safety, 12 points above Hong Kong (78).
Healthcare
Tied: Hong Kong and Singapore both score 78 out of 100 on healthcare.
Internet
Close: about 250 Mbps median fixed download in Hong Kong and about 280 Mbps in Singapore.
Language
Main languages: Cantonese, English in Hong Kong; English, Mandarin, Malay in Singapore. English goes further in Singapore (good English) than in Hong Kong (some English).
Residency and visas
Long-term residency is easier to obtain in Hong Kong (comparatively open) than in Singapore (possible, with conditions). For short visits, 147 of 198 passports can enter Hong Kong visa-free and 164 can enter Singapore.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions) first, Hong Kong comes out ahead. If the other cares more about safety (90 against 78 out of 100) and getting by in English (good English against some English), Singapore does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Singapore (27°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Hong Kong (23°C), and whoever minds rain will prefer Hong Kong (1,944 mm a year against 2,639 mm).
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Hong Kong, Singapore and 913 other cities for both of you at once.