Cost of Living in Kazakhstan
Image credit: Vmenkov
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Kazakhstan: $35,974/capita.
Cities in Kazakhstan
Income Category
Happiness
6.2 / 10
#48 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 70% 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 Kazakhstan.
Quality
Mixed public schools
Expat access
Possible, but language-heavy
hardInstruction
Kazakh / Russian
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Kazakhstan has a functioning state-school system with stronger options in Almaty and Astana than in smaller cities. Academic expectations can be solid, but the public route remains language-heavy and not especially tailored to expat families.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident families can often enroll, but Kazakh- and Russian-medium instruction makes the public path harder for most foreign families unless they plan deeper local integration.
📋 Homeschooling
Legal with school supervisionKazakhstan's Law on Education (2007, amended) allows home-based learning with school supervision. Students must be registered with a school and take assessments. Increasingly popular among Almaty and Nur-Sultan expats.
Homeschool legality in Kazakhstan — 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 Kazakhstan.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$675-$925
1 tracked city, not a national average
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$1,250-$1,650
1 tracked city, not a national average
Source: curated family relocation research
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Kazakhstan.
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
GoodBroad public coverage and a visible public hospital footprint support this rating.
Private care
MixedA large tracked hospital and clinic network help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
83/100
2023
Physicians
3.75/1k
2023
Hospital beds
6.54/1k
2020
Out of pocket
28%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
74.5 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
10/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
3.9/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedMultiple facilities have websites and there is visible specialty depth 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 Kazakhstan 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 | — |
2022 annual wages in Kazakhstan · Source: ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can stay up to 30 days without a visa.
About Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is an upper-middle-income country in Europe and Central Asia where relocation decisions usually come down to Astana versus Almaty. Costs are very affordable, lower than most of Asia, which makes the country unusually practical for people prioritizing rent and everyday spending over a mild climate. Almaty is the more obvious expat base, with generally safe urban conditions, adequate healthcare with improving standards, and good city internet, commonly around 10-100 Mbps. Astana matters as the capital, but its climate can be a real filter: winters can fall to around -20°C, while summers can reach +35°C. Kazakh and Russian are the official languages, so language preparation matters. Short stays are helped by 30-90 day visa-free or e-visa-friendly access.
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Common questions about Kazakhstan
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Kazakhstan a good country to live in?
Kazakhstan is a good country to live in per the World Happiness Report (6.2 of 10, ranking #48 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Kazakhstan ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Kazakhstan?
The cost of living in Kazakhstan is about 70% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 30. 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 Kazakhstan?
$1 goes about 3.0x further in Kazakhstan than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 3.03). 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 Kazakhstan?
To move to Kazakhstan you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_free (30 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 Kazakhstan?
The best cities to live in Kazakhstan are Astana, Almaty — those are the most-searched options among the 2 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