United States
Washington, D.C. · North America
Large and economically deep, but among the hardest developed countries to move to deliberately. There is no remote-worker visa and no points system: almost every route runs through an employer, a close family member, a substantial investment, or a lottery.
- G7
- USMCA
- OECD
- Capital
- Washington, D.C.
- Currency
- USD $
- Language
- English
- Population
- 341.0M
- Long-stay routes
- 4
- Route to permanent residence
- Yes
- Unemployment
- 4.2%
- Drives on the
- Right
United States dollar
2024 estimate
Soonest, 2 years
2025, indicative
+1
Entry and short stays
What your passport allows before any long-stay permission is involved.
Reading your passport selection…
Can I live here?
Every long-stay route this country publishes, checked against what you tell us. The checking happens in your browser.
About you
Stored in this browser only. Never sent anywhere.
Before tax, in the currency you earn.
Reading your answers…
Nothing here is an approval, and nothing here is advice. Only the authority deciding your application can tell you the answer, and it will weigh things this tool does not model.
Long-stay routes
Stored as structured records, so the same data drives the checks above, the comparison view and the checklists.
H-1B specialty occupation
EmploymentThe main professional work visa. Its defining feature is the annual cap: registrations far exceed the quota, so selection is by lottery and most registrations are not selected.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- After 2 years
O-1 extraordinary ability
EmploymentFor people with demonstrated national or international acclaim. No annual cap and no lottery, which makes it the most reliable work route for those who can meet the evidentiary bar.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- After 2 years
E-2 treaty investor
InvestmentFor nationals of countries with a qualifying treaty who invest a substantial amount in a real US business they direct. Renewable indefinitely, but it is a non-immigrant status and does not itself lead to a green card.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- No
Diversity Immigrant Visa (green card lottery)
Permanent residenceAn annual lottery offering a limited number of permanent residence places to nationals of countries with low recent immigration to the United States. Free to enter, and the only major route needing neither an employer nor a family member.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- No
Cost of living
An estimate you can shape. It is not survey data and it is not a quote.
| Category | Monthly range |
|---|---|
| Housing | US$1,300 – US$2,800 |
| Food | US$400 – US$750 |
| Utilities | US$150 – US$320 |
| Internet | US$55 – US$100 |
| Transport | US$250 – US$700 |
| Healthcare | US$300 – US$900 |
| Everything else | US$300 – US$700 |
| Total | US$2,755 – US$6,270 |
| Suggested monthly buffer | US$7,524 |
Modelled from a baseline for one adult and scaled, not sampled from households. Figures are shown as ranges because that is the honest shape of the data.
Worth knowing. Modelled estimate. Two lines dominate and are easy to underestimate from outside: healthcare, where premiums, deductibles and co-insurance are separate costs even with employer cover, and transport, where a car is a practical necessity almost everywhere. Variation between states is larger than between many countries.
Housing
No federal restriction on foreign nationals buying residential property, and no residence requirement. Several states have restricted foreign ownership of agricultural land and property near military installations. Mortgage financing without US credit history is possible but more expensive.
What landlords usually ask for
- Credit check — the main obstacle for new arrivals with no US credit file
- Proof of income, commonly 40 times the monthly rent annually
- A US guarantor, or several months paid up front instead
- Social Security number for most applications
Zillow (opens in a new tab)Apartments.com (opens in a new tab)
Worth knowing. Market conventions; tenancy law is set state by state and varies widely.
Healthcare
Predominantly private and employer-linked, with public programmes for people over 65 and on low incomes. Costs are the highest in the world by a wide margin, and having insurance does not mean care is free.
- If you live there
- Most working-age residents obtain cover through an employer or buy it on a state marketplace. Eligibility for subsidies depends on immigration status and income.
- If you are visiting
- Visitors pay full price, which can be extraordinary for emergency care. Travel insurance with a high medical limit is essential.
Worth knowing. Premium ranges are indicative for an individual marketplace plan and exclude deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, which frequently add thousands of dollars a year.
Tax
- Tax residency threshold
- 183 days
- Taxes worldwide income
- Yes, for residents
- Income tax range
- 10% – 37%
- VAT or sales tax
- No national VAT
The substantial presence test weights the current year fully, the previous year at a third and the year before at a sixth. Separately, and unusually, the United States taxes its citizens and permanent residents on worldwide income wherever they live.
Remote workers. There is no remote-work visa. A visitor may not engage in employment in the United States, and how incidental remote work for a foreign employer is treated is not addressed in the regulations — it is assessed at the border, which makes it genuinely risky rather than merely grey.
Social insurance. Social Security and Medicare taxes are withheld from wages and matched by the employer. State and sometimes city income taxes apply on top of federal rates; several states levy none at all.
Capital gains. Long-term gains on assets held over a year are taxed at preferential rates; short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income.
Worth knowing. Federal rates only. There is no national sales tax; state and local sales taxes apply instead, which is why the VAT figure is null rather than zero. Citizenship-based taxation has significant consequences for anyone holding US citizenship abroad.
Work and the labour market
Conditions in the labour market, which is a different claim from how many jobs are open right now. This product does not pretend to know the second from static data.
- Unemployment
- 4.2%
- Youth unemployment
- 9%
- Average earnings
- US$5,100 / mo
- Minimum wage
- US$1,257 / mo
Worth knowing. The minimum wage figure is a full-time equivalent of the federal rate, which has not changed since 2009. Most states set a higher rate, some more than double it, so the federal figure is close to meaningless as a guide to actual pay.
Sectors
- HealthcaregrowingThe largest employing sector, with licensing handled state by state.
- TechnologystableConcentrated on the west coast, in New York, Austin and Seattle. The main user of the H-1B route.
- Transport and logisticsgrowingA large employer with persistent driver shortages.
Cities
A country-wide average hides a lot. Where we have city data, use it instead.
New York
The densest job market in the country, with the most extensive public transport and housing costs to match.
One adult, monthly: US$4,800 – US$7,000
Austin
A technology centre with no state income tax and costs below the coastal cities, though property taxes are high and a car is effectively required.
One adult, monthly: US$2,800 – US$4,200
Sources
Every claim on this page traces to one of these. If something here matters to a decision you are making, read it there.
Authorities for United States
- U.S. Visas — categories, interviews and reciprocity (opens in a new tab)U.S. Department of State — Bureau of Consular Affairs · Foreign ministry
- USCIS — status categories, forms and processing times (opens in a new tab)U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · National immigration authority
- ESTA — Electronic System for Travel Authorization under the Visa Waiver Program (opens in a new tab)U.S. Customs and Border Protection · Government department