Cost of Living inMazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan
Image credit: AhmadElhan
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Afghanistan: $1,984/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 79% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Using the country-level NYC comparison for now. We do not have a defensible city-level aggregate cost index for this city yet.
Income Category
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-schooling rules and international-school pricing are not sourced for Afghanistan yet. Quality, expat-access, instruction language, and tuition will appear here once verified.
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Mazar-i-Sharif. We publish this section only when we can tie it to local job-board, agency, or country fallback evidence.
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Mazar-i-Sharif is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Afghanistan.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
LimitedCoverage looks thinner, doctor staffing is lighter, and hospital capacity looks tighter weigh on this rating.
Public care
LimitedPublic coverage looks thinner, public funding looks lighter, and patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs weigh on this rating.
Private care
LimitedThe tracked private-style network still looks thin and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
UHC coverage
42/100
2023
Physicians
0.32/1k
2023
Hospital beds
0.35/1k
2023
Out of pocket
77%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
66.3 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
521/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
33.1/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedPrice transparency is still sparse and headline outcomes are less reassuring weigh on this rating.
Pricing transparency
LimitedPublished self-pay prices are scarce weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Afghanistan yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
2020 annual wages in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan · Source: ILO ILOSTAT (sector aggregate) (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
Quick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Mazar-i-Sharif compared with the US?
Your money goes about 4.5x further in Mazar-i-Sharif than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Afghanistan here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Mazar-i-Sharif cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Mazar-i-Sharif is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 79% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Mazar-i-Sharif. We are using the country-level cost index for Afghanistan here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Mazar-i-Sharif compare with New York City?
Rent in Mazar-i-Sharif is about 98% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Afghanistan here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Mazar-i-Sharif?
Groceries in Mazar-i-Sharif are about 82% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 85% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Afghanistan here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Mazar-i-Sharif
Mazar-i-Sharif is the largest city in northern Afghanistan and capital of Balkh province, on the Central Asian plains within roughly 60 km of the Uzbek border, historically a Silk Road trade hub and still a regional commercial center for cross-border trade with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The city is best known for the Blue Mosque (Shrine of Ali), one of the country's most important religious sites, and was long considered relatively more open than southern Afghanistan. Since the 2021 Taliban takeover, the humanitarian, economic, and women's-rights situation has deteriorated sharply, and most embassies, NGOs, and international businesses have either withdrawn or operate under severe constraints. Dari is essential and Pashto and Uzbek are also spoken. Realistic only for specific humanitarian work.
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