Cost of Living inChittagong, Bangladesh
Image credit: Motiur Rahman Oni
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).
Income Category
Happiness
3.9 / 10
#127 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Monthly Costs
Rent
Food
Transport
Utilities
Education
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; Chittagong-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.
β 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 β 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.Chittagong 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
GoodA meaningful tracked hospital and clinic network and a clearly private facility base help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
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
MixedA visible private hospital base and there is visible specialty depth help, but price transparency is still sparse and headline outcomes are less reassuring.
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 Bangladesh yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI Β· 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 | β |
| Agriculture & Farming | β |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | β |
| Construction | β |
| Education | β |
| Finance & Insurance | β |
| Healthcare & Social Work | β |
| Hospitality & Food Service | β |
| Information & Technology | β |
| Manufacturing | β |
| Mining & Quarrying | β |
| Other Services | β |
| Professional & Scientific Services | β |
| Public Administration & Defence | β |
| Real Estate | β |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | β |
| Transport & Logistics | β |
| Utilities | β |
2024 annual wages in Chittagong, Bangladesh Β· 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 β no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Chittagong compared with the US?
Your money goes about 6.2x further in Chittagong than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate.
Is Chittagong cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Chittagong is cheaper overall than New York City β overall living costs are about 77% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Chittagong.
How does rent in Chittagong compare with New York City?
Rent in Chittagong is about 97% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City).
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Chittagong?
Groceries in Chittagong are about 74% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 82% cheaper than the same benchmark.
About Chittagong
Chittagong, now officially renamed Chattogram, is the same port city on Bangladesh's southeastern Bay of Bengal coast and remains widely known by its older Anglicized name in international shipping and business contexts. It is the country's second-largest city and the principal gateway for maritime trade, anchored by Bangladesh's largest seaport. For relocators the city functions as a corporate posting destination, particularly for shipping, energy, and apparel-export companies, with a notably smaller foreign community than Dhaka. Bengali is essential outside business settings, English is workable in corporate environments, and the tropical monsoon climate combines hot humid summers with a defined heavy rainy season. Cyclone exposure remains a meaningful planning factor along this stretch of coast.
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