Cost of Living inBāndarban, Bangladesh
Image credit: Wasiul Bahar
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Bangladesh: $8,487/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 77% 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
Happiness
3.9 / 10
#127 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-school quality, expat access, instruction language, and homeschool legality for relocating families.
Public schools
Public-schooling rules are set nationally for Bangladesh; Bāndarban-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Limited public-school fit
Expat access
Possible, but a hard fit for expats
hardInstruction
Bangla
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Bangladesh has a large public system with meaningful variation between urban and rural schools. Dhaka has far stronger private and international options than the state system for families wanting predictable English-friendly schooling.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident foreign families may be able to enroll, but Bangla-medium instruction and uneven infrastructure make the public route difficult for most internationally mobile households.
❓ Homeschooling
Not specifically regulatedBangladesh requires compulsory primary education but does not have a specific homeschooling framework. Many expat families in Dhaka homeschool through accredited foreign programs without interference. No formal registration or approval process exists.
Homeschool legality in Bangladesh — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in Bangladesh.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$180-$275
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$300-$450
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Bāndarban is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Bangladesh.
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
54/100
2023
Physicians
0.72/1k
2023
Hospital beds
0.92/1k
2023
Out of pocket
79%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
74.9 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
115/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
17.9/1k
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 and few facilities expose web pages we can verify weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Bangladesh 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 |
|---|---|
| Administrative & Support Services | — |
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Real Estate | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2024 annual wages in Bāndarban, Bangladesh · Source: BBS (region-adjusted)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival.
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 Bāndarban compared with the US?
Your money goes about 4.8x further in Bāndarban than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Bangladesh here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Bāndarban cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Bāndarban is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 77% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Bāndarban. We are using the country-level cost index for Bangladesh here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Bāndarban compare with New York City?
Rent in Bāndarban is about 97% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Bangladesh here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Bāndarban?
Groceries in Bāndarban are about 73% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 83% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Bangladesh here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Bāndarban
Bāndarban is a hill district headquarters of about 495,000 in southeastern Bangladesh, sitting in the Chittagong Hill Tracts on the Sangu River. The surrounding area is the country's most mountainous region and home to multiple indigenous communities including the Marma, Bawm, Mro, and Tripura peoples, each with distinct languages and customs. The local economy combines small-scale agriculture, forest products, increasingly domestic tourism, and government administration. The climate is hot tropical with a very heavy monsoon May through October. Relocators are essentially absent: foreign visitors require special permits for travel within the Chittagong Hill Tracts, infrastructure is thin, the security situation has historical sensitivities tied to past insurgencies, and English-language daily life is minimal. Bengali is the working administrative language, with multiple indigenous languages in daily community use.
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