Cost of Living in Italy
Image credit: Bert Kaufmann from Roermond, Netherlands
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Italy: $53,265/capita.
Cities in Italy
Income Category
Happiness
6.3 / 10
#40 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 39% 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 Italy.
Quality
Good public schools
Expat access
Available to residents
conditionalInstruction
Italian
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Italy’s public schools are a credible option in stronger regions, especially for families comfortable with Italian.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident families can enroll, but public schooling is mainly in Italian and expat-specific support is limited.
📋 Homeschooling
Legal with annual examsHomeschooling (istruzione parentale) is constitutionally protected. Parents must annually declare their intent and demonstrate financial/technical capability. Students must pass yearly exams at a state school. Italy has a small but growing worldschooling community.
Homeschool legality in Italy — 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 Italy.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$900-$1,700
8 tracked cities, not a national average
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$1,850-$3,350
8 tracked cities, not a national average
Source: curated family relocation research
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Italy.
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
StrongGood national coverage, strong doctor availability, and solid hospital-bed capacity support this rating.
Public care
StrongBroad public coverage, strong public funding, and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong support this rating.
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
82/100
2023
Physicians
4.19/1k
2022
Hospital beds
3.06/1k
2022
Out of pocket
22%
2024
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
84.0 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
6/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
1.8/1k
2024
International patient readiness
GoodA visible private hospital base and multiple facilities have websites help, but price transparency is still sparse.
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 Italy 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 Italy · Source: OECD STAN, ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can stay up to 90 days without a visa.
Long-Term Visa Programs
digital nomad
Digital Nomad Visa
Migrated from legacy digital_nomad_visas row 11
retirement
Elective Residence Visa Italy
investment
Italy Investor Visa Government Bonds
investment
Italy Investor Visa Startup
working holiday
Working Holiday VisaAbout Italy
Italy is a high-income European country where relocation decisions depend heavily on city and region: Rome and Milan are pricier, while living outside them is commonly framed around €800-1200/month. In Europe & Central Asia terms it is moderate rather than bargain-priced, so the tradeoff is less about finding the cheapest base and more about choosing infrastructure, climate, and bureaucracy you can tolerate. Italian is the official language, which matters for paperwork and daily services. The SSN public healthcare system is a major practical advantage, and average 50-100 Mbps internet is generally workable for remote work. EU citizens have freedom of movement; non-EU nationals should expect Schengen or residence-permit rules. The Mediterranean climate means mild winters and hot dry summers, with cooler, greener conditions in the north.
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Common questions about Italy
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Italy a good country to live in?
Italy is a good country to live in per the World Happiness Report (6.3 of 10, ranking #40 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Italy ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Italy?
The cost of living in Italy is about 39% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 61. 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 Italy?
$1 goes about 1.4x further in Italy than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 1.42). 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 Italy?
To move to Italy you have these visa options: Italy's digital-nomad visa "Digital Nomad Visa" is valid for 12 months and requires a minimum income of $2,800/month. Tourist entry: visa_free (90 days). 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 Italy?
The best cities to live in Italy are Rome, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Bologna — those are the most-searched options among the 6 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