Cost of Living inGao, Mali
Image credit: David Sessoms from Fribourg, Switzerland
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Mali: $2,916/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 31% higher 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
4.2 / 10
#121 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-schooling rules and international-school pricing are not sourced for Mali 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 Gao. 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.Gao is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Mali.
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
LimitedThe tracked private-style network still looks thin and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
UHC coverage
41/100
2023
Physicians
0.19/1k
2023
Hospital beds
0.25/1k
2018
Out of pocket
47%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
60.7 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
367/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
28.0/1k
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 Mali 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 Gao, Mali · 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 Gao compared with the US?
Your money goes about 2.8x further in Gao than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Mali here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Gao cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Gao is more expensive overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 31% more expensive than the global benchmark (New York City) for Gao. We are using the country-level cost index for Mali here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Gao compare with New York City?
Rent in Gao is about 58% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Mali here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Gao?
Groceries in Gao are about 8% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 5% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Mali here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Gao
Gao is a historic city on the Niger River in northeastern Mali, capital of the Gao Region and the southern terminus of trans-Saharan trade routes that once made it the seat of the Songhai Empire. Its roughly 133,000 residents live in a Sahelian town whose economy combines river-based agriculture, livestock, and limited cross-border trade with Niger and Algeria. French is official; Songhai and Tamasheq are widely spoken. The climate is hot semi-arid with extreme summer temperatures and a short July-September rainy season. Gao has been at the center of the northern Mali conflict since 2012 and remains under significant security restrictions, with international travel advisories warning against all travel to the region. Relocation by foreigners is effectively not viable.
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