HavenScout Data Guide and Methodology

About This Map

This map is a research tool built to help citizens of 87 countries (and all 50 US states — coming soon) evaluate potential retirement destinations. Select your home country from the dropdown in the top-left corner to personalize all comparisons to your starting point. Each country panel combines live API data, regularly updated statistical indexes, and curated editorial research to give a balanced view of what retiring in a given country actually looks like.

Data sources are a mix of live (fetched every time you open the map) and static (embedded at the time the map was last updated). Neither type is perfect — treat all figures as a starting point for deeper research, not a definitive answer.

What it does

Selecting your home country personalizes every cost, safety, and healthcare comparison on the map to your actual starting point. All of the following update instantly when you change the baseline:

• Map colors — the composite score recalculates, recoloring every country
• Cost of living pill — "−42% vs US cost" becomes "−38% vs UK cost" etc.
• Safety comparison — "5.2 safer than US" becomes relative to your country's safety score
• Healthcare cost — estimated cost shown as a percentage of your home country's healthcare costs
• Composite score — the cost advantage component re-weights based on your home country's cost index
• Page title — updates to "Best Countries to Retire from [Your Country]"

Which countries are available

All 87 countries that have a Numbeo Cost of Living Index value are available as a baseline. This covers the vast majority of countries from which retirees are likely to be relocating. Countries without a Numbeo COLI value (mostly very small island nations and conflict zones) are not included as baselines since the cost comparison math requires this figure.

The list is sorted alphabetically with the United States pre-selected as the default.

What it is

A single 0–10 score that summarizes how suitable a country is for retirement, calculated from five weighted factors. The score also drives the map color — green countries score highest, red countries lowest.

The score is always relative to your selected baseline country (default: United States). Changing your home country in the top-left dropdown recalculates all scores and recolors the map instantly.

How it's calculated

Score scale

Exchange Rate

Shows how many units of the destination currency equal 1 USD (or your baseline currency). Fetched fresh each page load from the Frankfurter API, which sources daily rates from the European Central Bank.

Countries that use the US dollar (Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador) show "Uses USD" — no exchange rate risk for American retirees.

US State Dept Travel Advisory

The official US State Department travel advisory level for the country, fetched live from the State Department's public RSS feed.

• Level 1 — Exercise Normal Precautions
• Level 2 — Exercise Increased Caution
• Level 3 — Reconsider Travel
• Level 4 — Do Not Travel

The level number and label are both clickable links to the full State Department country page, which includes detailed security information, entry requirements, and emergency contacts.

Inflation Rate

The most recent annual consumer price inflation rate for the country, fetched from the World Bank's public API. This is the official CPI (Consumer Price Index) year-over-year percentage change.

High inflation (shown in red) significantly affects retirees on fixed incomes — a country with low nominal costs can become expensive quickly if inflation is running at 20–40% annually (as Argentina or Venezuela have experienced).

What it measures

Compares the destination country's overall cost of living to your selected baseline country (default: United States). A figure of −42% means the destination is approximately 42% cheaper than your home country on a like-for-like basket of goods and services.

The index covers groceries, restaurants, transport, utilities, and rent — weighted to reflect typical spending patterns. It does not include property purchase prices.

Source and baseline

Based on Numbeo's Cost of Living Index, updated twice yearly (January and July). Each country's cost index is measured against your selected baseline. The United States baseline is 64.9 (Numbeo 2025). When you switch to another home country — say, the UK at 59.2 — all cost comparisons instantly recalculate relative to that new baseline. Countries with a lower index than yours show a green "cheaper" pill; higher shows red.

Changing your home country in the top-left dropdown updates this comparison instantly — a UK retiree moving to Portugal sees a different percentage than a US retiree moving to Portugal, because their starting cost baseline differs.

What it measures

Numbeo's Safety Index is a composite perception-based score derived from surveys of residents and long-term visitors. It reflects perceptions of crime rates, personal safety, mugging risk, car theft, property crime, drug problems, and corruption.

Scale: 0 (extremely dangerous) to 100 (extremely safe). The comparison label ("X safer than [country]") always reflects your selected baseline country. The United States scores 50.8 in 2025 — roughly in the middle of the global range.

Scale interpretation

Note: This is a perception index, not an official crime statistics measure. It correlates well with actual crime data but is influenced by media coverage and local attitudes. Use alongside the Crime section for a fuller picture.

System Type

Describes the structure of the country's healthcare system. Common types include:

• Universal — tax-funded, free or near-free at point of use for residents (e.g. France, Germany, Taiwan)
• Mixed — combination of public and private systems; expats often use private (e.g. Thailand, Mexico, Philippines)
• Mandatory Private — government-regulated private insurance required for all residents (e.g. Switzerland, Netherlands)
• Limited Public — public system exists but is under-resourced; private essential (e.g. Cambodia, Laos, Nepal)

Quality Rating (★ stars)

A 1–5 star editorial rating based on WHO World Health Report rankings, OECD Health Statistics, Bloomberg Health Efficiency Index, and expat community reports from International Living, Expat Forum, and similar sources.

Estimated Cost vs Baseline

The approximate cost of equivalent private healthcare in the destination country compared to your baseline. For example, a figure of ~15% means a doctor visit or procedure that costs $200 in the US would cost roughly $30 in that country.

This reflects out-of-pocket costs or private insurance premiums for expat-level care, not the cost of the public system (which may be cheaper or unavailable to non-citizens).

Source: International Federation of Health Plans (IFHP) 2024 Comparative Price Report, Expat health insurance benchmarks, and editorial research.

Overall Score (0–10)

An editorial score reflecting how well a retiree — particularly one who may stop driving — can get around using public transportation alone. Factors include network coverage, reliability, affordability, accessibility, and English-language usability.

Breakdown categories

• 🚂 Rail / Metro (1–5) — quality of train, metro, tram, and light rail networks
• 🚌 Buses (1–5) — coverage, reliability, and affordability of bus systems including long-distance coaches
• 🚶 Walkability (1–5) — how much of daily life (groceries, medical, restaurants) can be reached on foot in typical expat neighborhoods

The "Car needed?" summary reflects the practical reality: scores of 7.5+ typically mean a car is unnecessary; below 5.5 a car is strongly recommended.

Long-term environmental score

The HavenScout score now includes a 10% environmental factor for countries with enough auditable data. The long-term score is meant to reflect structural conditions, not one day of weather or smoke.

When one of the source layers is not available, HavenScout does not guess it. Available inputs are re-weighted and the panel shows a lower data-confidence label. Environmental values are approximate and should be treated as a comparison signal, not a health guarantee.

Live AQI

The live AQI card uses the Google Air Quality API for a representative point in the destination. This is useful for current conditions, seasonal smoke, dust, and pollution spikes, but it is not directly added to the composite score because it can change hour by hour.

The panel keeps the two concepts separate: long-term environmental score is structural and affects the HavenScout score; live AQI is a current warning signal.

System of Government

The formal constitutional structure of the country's government. Common types shown include Presidential Republic, Parliamentary Republic, Constitutional Monarchy, Federal Republic, Semi-Presidential Republic, and Single-Party Socialist State.

This reflects the constitutional structure, not the quality of governance or democratic health.

Political Leaning

The political orientation of the current ruling government as of mid-2025 — not a permanent characterization of the country. This is relevant for retirees who care about social policy, property rights, and expat treatment under different administrations.

These labels will shift as elections occur. The map reflects the government in power at time of last update. Source: editorial assessment based on party platforms, policy records, and Freedom House / V-Dem classifications.

Why expat-specific?

National crime statistics often don't reflect what foreign retirees actually experience. For example, gang violence in Mexico is extremely high nationally but rarely affects expats in San Miguel de Allende. Conversely, tourist-targeted scams in Japan don't show up in national crime statistics but are the primary risk for foreigners.

Each country's crime list is curated to reflect crimes that actually affect expats and long-term foreign residents, not just headline national statistics.

Risk level dots (●●●●●)

Trend arrows

• ↑ Rising — This crime type has increased over the past 1–3 years
• → Stable — No significant change in recent years
• ↓ Declining — This crime type has decreased over the past 1–3 years

Trends are based on UNODC crime trend data (2022–2024), US State Department crime reports, Numbeo crime trend data, and expat community reports.

What it shows

Monthly average high temperatures in Fahrenheit for the country's main expat region (usually the capital or primary retirement destination). These are 30-year climatological averages — long-term normals, not current or forecast weather.

Weather icons reflect the typical character of each month:

• ☀️ Sunny / dry season
• ⛅ Partly cloudy / mild
• ☁️ Overcast / grey
• 🌧️ Rainy / wet season
• ❄️ Snow / cold
• 🔥 Extreme heat

How locations are selected

Each location is chosen based on a combination of established expat community size, access to English-language services, proximity to hospitals and international airports, cost of living within the country, and quality of life as reported by expat communities.

Sources include International Living's annual retirement indexes, Expat Forum community data, InterNations Expat Insider reports, and editorial research.

Daily In-Country Costs (3 tiers)

Shows the average cost per person per day inside the country, excluding international flights. Three tiers are shown:

• Budget — hostels or guesthouses, street food and local markets, public transport, free or low-cost activities
• Mid-Range — 3-star hotels, sit-down restaurants, occasional taxis, paid attractions
• Luxury — 4–5 star hotels, fine dining, private tours, business-class domestic travel

These figures represent realistic in-country daily spending and do not include international airfare, travel insurance, visas, or pre-departure costs.

Estimated Round-Trip Flight Cost

Shows the approximate round-trip economy class airfare from your selected baseline country to the destination, in USD. This is a regional average estimate — actual prices vary significantly by departure city, season, how far in advance you book, and airline.

The estimate uses regional flight cost averages from four baseline regions:

• US — departing from major US hubs (JFK, LAX, ORD, MIA)
• UK — departing from London (LHR)
• EU — departing from a major European hub (CDG, FRA, AMS)
• AU — departing from Sydney (SYD)

A Search ↗ link opens Google Flights pre-filled with the nearest major airport pair for the route, so you can check live prices immediately.

Grocery Staple Prices — how to read it

For 62 countries, the country panel shows retail prices for four staple groceries (milk, eggs, chicken, rice) at January 2026 USD rates, alongside a computed monthly basket total.

What the basket is not: The formula is 4 litres of milk + 2 dozen eggs + 4kg of chicken + 4kg of rice per month. It is a transparent, comparable signal — not your actual grocery bill. Real grocery spending runs 2–4× the staple basket depending on diet, brand choices, fresh produce, and household size.

Cheapest in the dataset: Bangladesh ($18/mo). Most expensive: Switzerland ($98/mo).

Important limitations

• Flight costs are static regional estimates updated twice yearly — not live prices
• The Search ↗ link always shows live prices — use it for actual booking research
• Daily costs vary significantly within large countries (e.g. Bali vs Jakarta in Indonesia)
• All figures are in USD and assume travel from the baseline country, not origin city

What it does

Enter your estimated monthly retirement budget (in USD) in the topbar. Every country, US state, and Canadian province panel then shows a personalised Budget section at the bottom comparing your budget to what life actually costs in that destination.

Your budget is saved automatically in your browser so it persists between visits.

Purchasing Power Calculation

The calculator uses each destination's Cost of Living Index (COLI) to convert your home-country budget into local purchasing power. The formula:

• Local Equivalent = Your Budget × (Baseline COLI ÷ Destination COLI)
• Example: $4,000/month budget, Portugal COLI 49 vs US baseline 100 → $8,163 equivalent purchasing power in Portugal
• Green = your budget goes further than at home · Red = destination is more expensive

Lifestyle Tier Bars

Three bars show whether your daily budget (monthly ÷ 30) covers each lifestyle tier in that destination:

• 🎒 Budget — Guesthouses, local restaurants, public transport
• 🏨 Mid-Range — 3-star accommodation, sit-down meals, occasional taxis
• ✨ Luxury — 5-star hotels, fine dining, private transfers

A filled bar means your daily budget reaches that tier. These are tourist/scouting costs — actual long-term resident costs are lower. See the Cost of Living section for resident costs.

How to use it

Tap the 🔍 Filter button in the topbar to open the filter panel. Set one or more criteria — the map immediately dims any destination that doesn't match, leaving only qualifying countries, states, and provinces highlighted in their normal heatmap color.

An orange badge on the Filter button shows how many filters are currently active. The panel footer shows a live count: "47 of 194 destinations match." Tap Clear all to reset everything.

Available Filters

• Composite Score ≥ — Only show destinations scoring above your chosen threshold (0–10 slider)
• Safety ≥ — Minimum safety index (0–100 slider, based on Numbeo / GPI data)
• Cost Index ≤ — Maximum COLI — slide left to show only cheaper destinations
• Transit Score ≥ — Minimum public transit quality (0–10 slider)
• Healthcare Quality ≥ — Pill buttons: Any / ★★+ / ★★★+ / ★★★★+ / ★★★★★
• Advisory Level ≤ — Pill buttons: Any / L1 Only / L1–L2 / L1–L3. Filters by US State Department advisory level. Unknown advisory = treated as L4.
• Lifestyle Tier — Budget / Mid-Range / Luxury. Requires a monthly budget to be set. Dims destinations where your daily budget (monthly ÷ 30) doesn't reach the selected tier's daily cost threshold.

How dimming works

Destinations that don't match are dimmed to near-invisible on the map (very low fill opacity, dark grey). They remain clickable — you can still open their panel. Hovering a passing destination highlights it normally; hovering a dimmed destination does nothing, so you're not distracted by destinations you've already filtered out.

All three geographic layers filter simultaneously — countries, US states, and Canadian provinces all respond to the same filter settings.

Pinning destinations

Open any country, state, or province panel and tap + Compare in the panel header bar. The destination is pinned to the compare tray at the top of the screen (desktop) or below the topbar (mobile). You can pin up to 5 destinations. Tap a chip in the tray to remove it.

Report — Page 1: Detail Cards

Tap View Report in the compare tray to open the full comparison overlay. Page 1 shows a detailed card for each pinned destination side-by-side, covering:

• Composite score, cost index, safety, healthcare, transit, environment
• Government lean, advisory level, top crime risks
• Climate summary and top retirement locations
• Monthly budget section (if budget is set) showing purchasing power and tier bars

Report — Page 2: Comparison Matrix

Below the detail cards is a scrollable Comparison Matrix — a table with destinations as rows and data categories as columns, so you can scan across all metrics at a glance. Columns include Score, Cost %, COLI, Safety, Healthcare stars, Transit, Car Needed, Advisory, Sales Tax, Summer temperature, Government lean, and (if budget is set) monthly purchasing power equivalent.

Color coding: green = favorable, amber = moderate, red = challenging. The matrix is print-ready — it starts on a new page when you use Print / Save PDF.

How it works

Every time you open a destination panel, the URL updates automatically to include the destination name as a hash — for example havenscout.netlify.app/#Portugal. Sharing or bookmarking that URL opens HavenScout with the Portugal panel already open.

Works for all three destination types: countries, US states (#Florida), and Canadian provinces (#Ontario).

Copy Link button

Tap 🔗 Copy Link in the panel header bar to copy the current destination's direct URL to your clipboard. On mobile, this triggers the native OS share sheet so you can send it via Messages, WhatsApp, email, or any installed app. On desktop, the link is copied silently with a brief "Link copied!" toast confirmation.

Coverage

All 13 Canadian provinces and territories are available as selectable regions on the map, alongside the 50 US states + DC and 70+ countries. Tap any Canadian region to open its panel.

Canada is also available as a country-level entry for a national overview.

Province-specific data

Each province has its own entries for:

• Cost of Living — Provincial COLI benchmarked against Canada national average (58.7)
• Safety — Provincial crime and safety index
• Healthcare — Provincial health system quality and universal coverage details
• Transit — Major city public transit scores
• Government — Provincial government party and political lean
• Tax — Provincial income and sales tax rates
• Climate — Monthly temperature and precipitation averages
• Top Retirement Locations — Curated list of towns and cities

Budget calculations for provinces

Monthly budget purchasing power for provinces uses the Canada national COLI (58.7) as the baseline, since provincial costs are measured relative to the Canadian average. Travel cost tiers (Budget / Mid-Range / Luxury) use Canada's national BudgetYourTrip data.

Advisory level filtering treats provinces as domestic — they always pass advisory filters regardless of the level selected, the same as US states.

Source and methodology

The short overview paragraph in each country panel is editorial content compiled from multiple expat research sources. It summarises the country's key characteristics for retirement — affordability, visa accessibility, lifestyle, climate, and infrastructure highlights.

The attribution line shown below each overview reads: Editorial research · International Living · Expat Arrivals · ExpatExchange. This reflects the primary sources used across the dataset. For any individual country, the specific sources consulted may vary — these three represent the most consistently used references.

This text is not a verbatim quote from any single publication and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organisations. It is reviewed and updated as countries are added to HavenScout or when conditions change materially.

What it is

Two sections appear in the country panel for the 20–24 countries covered by WhereNext: Expat Income Tax and Estate & Inheritance. Both draw from WhereNext's open datasets, which are built from 27 institutional public-domain sources (OECD Taxing Wages, Eurostat, World Bank, PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, and more) rather than crowdsourced surveys.

Expat Income Tax — how to read it

The panel shows three income scenarios: $50,000, $100,000, and $200,000 gross annual income. For each, it displays:

The effective rate is colour-coded: green ≤15% · amber 16–25% · orange 26–35% · red >35%.

What "effective rate" means vs marginal rate

Tax brackets are often quoted as the marginal rate — the rate that applies to the last dollar earned in a given bracket. A country that says "top rate is 45%" only taxes the portion of income above its top threshold at 45%. Everything below that is taxed at lower rates.

The effective rate is what actually matters for planning: it is the total tax paid divided by total gross income. HavenScout shows effective rates so you can directly compare the real tax burden across countries at your income level.

Example: At $100,000 gross income, Portugal's top marginal bracket is around 48%, but its effective rate shown here is 49.2% because social contributions stack on top. Germany shows a 45% effective rate at $100k despite a 42% income tax top bracket, again due to high social contributions. UAE shows 0% at every income level.

Estate & Inheritance — how to read it

This section answers a question many retirees overlook: what happens to your assets when you die? The panel shows:

Coverage

Grocery Staple Prices: 62 countries — see full list at the WhereNext food prices dataset link.

Expat Income Tax: 20 countries — UAE, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Panama, USA, Mexico, Vietnam, Costa Rica, UK, France, Ireland, Uruguay, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Netherlands.

Estate & Inheritance: 24 countries — all of the above plus Malta, Cyprus, Sweden, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland.

Countries outside this coverage show neither section. The panels only appear when data is available for that specific country.

Grocery Staple Prices — how to read it

For 62 countries, the country panel shows retail prices for four staple groceries (milk, eggs, chicken, rice) at January 2026 USD rates, alongside a computed monthly basket total.

What the basket is not: The formula is 4 litres of milk + 2 dozen eggs + 4kg of chicken + 4kg of rice per month. It is a transparent, comparable signal — not your actual grocery bill. Real grocery spending runs 2–4× the staple basket depending on diet, brand choices, fresh produce, and household size.

Cheapest in the dataset: Bangladesh ($18/mo). Most expensive: Switzerland ($98/mo).

Important limitations

These figures are for tax residents earning employment income as a single filer using Q1 2026 rates. They do not account for: pension or investment income (which is often taxed differently), applicable tax treaties between your home country and the destination, territorial vs worldwide tax systems for expats retaining home-country ties, state/cantonal/regional variations (Switzerland, Spain, USA), or special expat tax regimes you may qualify for (Portugal's IFICI, Spain's Beckham Law, Italy's Impatriate regime).

Inheritance tax is especially complex — rules vary by relationship, asset type, asset location, and the tax residency of both the deceased and the heir. The figures here are a directional comparison only. Always consult a cross-border estate planning advisor before making any relocation decision.

Data source

What it is

The Visa & Residency section appears in each country panel for all 135+ covered destinations. It documents the formal visa or residency route available to foreign retirees, along with the specific requirements, permit duration, and what the program leads to long-term.

Where a country has multiple programs — for example Portugal's D7 income visa and Golden Visa — each program appears as a separate card within the section. Where no dedicated retirement visa exists, this is documented clearly so the user understands their options.

Data fields

Visa type definitions

Filter usage

Two visa filters are available in the Map Filter panel:

Visa Type narrows the map to countries offering a specific program type. Selecting Pension shows only countries where a government pension qualifies as the sole income requirement. Selecting None shows countries with no dedicated retiree visa — useful for understanding which destinations require alternative routes.

Visa Path filters by long-term outcome:

• → PR — shows only destinations where the visa leads to permanent residency
• → Citizen — shows only destinations where the path ultimately leads to citizenship eligibility
• No min-stay — shows only destinations with zero mandatory physical presence requirement (ideal for snowbirds maintaining a home base elsewhere)

Combining filters is particularly powerful. For example: Pension + → PR + No min-stay returns Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Belize, Paraguay, and the Dominican Republic — all countries where a pension-based visa leads to permanent residency with no minimum stay obligation.

What it does not cover

• Legal advice — visa information is provided for research purposes only. Requirements change, and individual circumstances (criminal history, health conditions, financial complexity) affect eligibility. Always consult a licensed immigration attorney before applying.
• Processing times — government processing times vary widely and change frequently. The data covers program requirements, not current processing timelines.
• Dependants — most programs have different income thresholds for couples or family members. Income figures shown are typically for a single applicant.
• Tax implications — residency in another country has tax consequences in both the destination country and potentially your home country. The Expat Tax section covers destination-country tax treatment separately; always consult a tax professional for cross-border obligations.

Methodology & update schedule

Visa data is compiled from official government immigration portals, embassy publications, and verified expat community sources. Each entry includes a direct link to the official portal for the program. Where an official portal is unavailable or offline, a State Department country advisory page is used as the authoritative fallback.

Visa program requirements change — sometimes significantly — when governments update thresholds, introduce new programs, or discontinue existing ones. Notable examples: Malaysia's MM2H program raised its deposit requirement from MYR 300,000 to MYR 1,000,000 in 2021. Portugal's Golden Visa excluded direct residential property in major cities in 2023. Thailand's financial reporting requirements for the O-A visa have tightened multiple times.