Cost of Living in Egypt
Image credit: Petar Milošević
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Egypt: $16,798/capita.
Cities in Egypt
Income Category
Happiness
4.0 / 10
#125 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 78% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Child Education
Public-school quality, expat access, instruction language, and homeschool legality for relocating families.
Public schools
How realistic the local public-school path is for a relocating family in Egypt.
Quality
Limited public-school fit
Expat access
Possible, rarely the expat path
hardInstruction
Arabic
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Egypt's public-school system is not the route most internationally mobile families choose when they have private or international alternatives.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident access can exist, but Arabic-medium instruction, crowding, and uneven quality make the public route a hard sell for most expat families.
📋 Homeschooling
Legal with MOE supervisionEgypt allows homeschooling under certain conditions with Ministry of Education oversight. Students must be enrolled in a school for official exams. The process is bureaucratic. Many expat families in Cairo use international schools instead. American and British school options are extensive.
Homeschool legality in Egypt — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Childcare & Domestic Help
Current city samples for the family-support costs we track in Egypt.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$145-$210
1 tracked city, not a national average
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$190-$260
1 tracked city, not a national average
Source: curated family relocation research
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Egypt.
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
LimitedMaternal mortality is low help, but doctor staffing is lighter and hospital capacity looks tighter.
Public care
LimitedA visible public hospital footprint help, but public funding looks lighter and patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs.
Private care
GoodA large tracked hospital and clinic network and a clearly private facility base help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
71/100
2023
Physicians
0.67/1k
2020
Hospital beds
1.06/1k
2021
Out of pocket
57%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
71.8 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
17/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
13.9/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base and multiple facilities have websites help, but price transparency is still sparse and headline outcomes are less reassuring.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Egypt 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 Egypt · Source: ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival.
About Egypt
Egypt is anchored by Cairo, with Alexandria as the other major urban reference point for relocators. Living costs are very affordable, among the lowest in its region, which is the main practical advantage over many nearby markets. The tradeoff is uneven infrastructure: modern healthcare is concentrated in Cairo and Alexandria, internet is typically moderate at 10-30 Mbps and can be inconsistent outside major cities, and longer stays require residency permits after tourist-visa entry. Arabic is the official language, so daily life is easier for people willing to handle some language friction. The hot desert climate, mild winters, and roughly 25-30°C average temperatures suit some relocators well, but safety conditions and service quality vary enough that location choice matters.
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Common questions about Egypt
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Egypt a good country to live in?
Egypt is a lower-rated country to live in per the World Happiness Report (4.0 of 10, ranking #125 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Egypt ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Egypt?
The cost of living in Egypt is about 78% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 22. SortaRich personalizes these numbers to your home city's purchasing power so the comparison is real, not nominal.
Sources: SortaRich Cost of Living, World Bank ICP 2021
How far does $1 go in Egypt?
$1 goes about 8.3x further in Egypt than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 8.32). The figure adjusts every year as exchange rates and local prices shift. SortaRich uses World Bank ICP 2021 as the anchor and Penn World Tables 11.0 for cross-validation.
Sources: World Bank ICP 2021, Penn World Tables 11.0
What visa do I need to move to Egypt?
To move to Egypt you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_on_arrival. Visa rules change frequently — confirm the current terms with the official immigration authority before booking flights.
Source: SortaRich Visa Database
What are the best cities to live in Egypt?
The best cities to live in Egypt are Cairo, Alexandria, Giza — those are the most-searched options among the 3 cities profiled in the SortaRich database. Each city page includes a personalized PPP comparison versus your home city plus subnational price data where available.
Source: SortaRich City Index