Cost of Living inGao, Mali
Image credit: David Sessoms from Fribourg, Switzerland
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Mali: $2,993/capita.
Income Category
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
International and private school tuition + curriculum mix for relocating families.
International & private schools
No schools in Gao are confirmed yet by their own websites. The nearest city with confirmed schools is Bamako, 946 km away (1 school).
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 2026-11-01
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
US passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival.
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 3.0x further in Gao than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate.
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.
See the full breakdown — free
No password needed. Takes ~30 seconds.