Cost of Living inBuea, Cameroon
Image credit: A.R. Etoyiva
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Cameroon: $4,917/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 59% 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
4.9 / 10
#103 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-schooling rules and international-school pricing are not sourced for Cameroon 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 Buea. 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.Buea is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Cameroon.
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 households still pay a large share themselves 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
LimitedSelf-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
UHC coverage
48/100
2023
Physicians
0.14/1k
2022
Hospital beds
2.65/1k
2016
Out of pocket
68%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
64.0 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
258/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
24.8/1k
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 Cameroon 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 | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2014 annual wages in Buea, Cameroon · Source: ILO ILOSTAT (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
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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 Buea compared with the US?
Your money goes about 2.7x further in Buea than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Cameroon here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Buea cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Buea is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 59% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Buea. We are using the country-level cost index for Cameroon here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Buea compare with New York City?
Rent in Buea is about 81% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Cameroon here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Buea?
Groceries in Buea are about 62% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 55% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Cameroon here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Buea
Buea is the capital of Cameroon's Southwest Region, set on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon at around 1,000 meters of elevation. It is one of the country's two Anglophone regional capitals and home to the University of Buea, which made it a hub for English-medium higher education and, more recently, a small ICT and outsourcing scene known locally as part of Silicon Mountain. Since 2017 the Southwest and Northwest regions have been affected by the ongoing Anglophone crisis, with periodic strikes, school closures and security incidents that constrain normal life and discourage non-essential foreign presence. The high-elevation equatorial climate is unusually cool and very wet on the mountain's windward flank.
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