Dominican Republic
A solid all-round choice. Ranked 23 of 40, strongest on affordability, softest on safety.
Key facts
Visa & residency
Residencia por Inversion en Calidad de Jubilado o Pensionado (Pensionado residency); Rentista residency also available
Pensionado requires a pension of at least US$1,500 per month; the Rentista category requires at least US$2,000 per month of income.
The Dominican Republic offers investment-based residency for foreign retirees (pensionado) and income earners (rentista), who must document the source of their monthly foreign income.
Healthcare
Sharply divided system: private hospitals in major cities offer high-quality, often English-speaking care, while public facilities face resource limitations and may lack medications.
Private health insurance is strongly recommended for expats; international providers such as Cigna Global and IMG are widely accepted at Dominican hospitals.
Cost of living
Estimated monthly costs for a single person are about RD$38,113 (~US$560), excluding rent.
A 1-bedroom apartment averages about RD$37,539/month in the city centre and RD$20,620/month outside the centre.
Safety & climate
The Dominican Republic scored 1.996 on the 2025 Global Peace Index, ranking 79th, up six spots from 85th in 2024 with an improved score.
Tropical maritime, with diverse Koppen zones (rainforest Af, monsoon Am, savanna Aw, plus highland and semi-arid areas)
A tropical, maritime nation with the most diverse climate zones of all Caribbean islands; annual mean temperature around 25 C (77 F), with wide regional variation from mountains to arid valleys.
Community & language
Established expat hubs include Las Terrenas, Cabarete, Sosua, Punta Cana and Santo Domingo; English is widely spoken in tourist areas and bilingual services are common in these hubs.
Spanish is the official language; English is widely spoken in tourist areas and expat hubs but limited elsewhere.
Taxes
The Dominican Republic uses a territorial system: Dominican-source income is taxed while foreign-source income is generally not, and new residents' foreign-source income is only taxed after the third year.
There is currently no income tax treaty and no social security totalization agreement between the United States and the Dominican Republic.
Compare Dominican Republic with its closest rivals
The three countries whose RetireScore sits nearest.
