Cost of Living inStavanger, Norway
Image credit: Peder Severin Krøyer
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Norway: $91,105/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 10% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Income Category
Happiness
7.3 / 10
#7 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Monthly Costs
Rent
Food
Transport
Utilities
Education
Child Education
Public-school quality + expat access, alongside international and private school cost — the two paths a relocating family weighs.
Public schools
Public-schooling rules are set nationally for Norway; Stavanger-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Good public schools
Assessment snapshot: 2022
Expat access
Resident families can use it
conditionalInstruction
Norwegian
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
477
Near OECD avg
PISA 2022 · OECD avg ~480
Why this quality rating
Norway has a well-funded public system with solid PISA outcomes and a strong emphasis on equality. There is high teacher quality and relatively small class sizes.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident expat families can typically enroll in local public schools. Instruction is in Norwegian, though international classes are available in some cities.
✅ Homeschooling
Legal with notificationHomeschooling is legal in Norway. Parents must notify the municipality. The municipality is responsible for supervision but there are no mandatory tests. Education must be equivalent to public school standards.
Homeschool legality in Norway — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
International & private schools
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in Norway.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$2,400-$3,850
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$3,800-$5,600
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Stavanger is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Norway.
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
StrongHigh national coverage, strong doctor availability, and deep nursing capacity support this rating.
Public care
GoodBroad public coverage and strong public funding help, but the tracked facility mix leans away from public providers.
Private care
MixedA clearly private facility base help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
89/100
2023
Physicians
4.97/1k
2023
Hospital beds
3.30/1k
2023
Out of pocket
14%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
83.2 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
1/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
1.4/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong help, but price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedPublished self-pay prices are scarce weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Norway 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 Stavanger, Norway · Source: SSB (region-adjusted)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can stay up to 90 days without a visa.
Long-Term Visa Programs
working holiday
Working Holiday VisaQuick 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 Stavanger compared with the US?
Your money does not stretch further in Stavanger than in the US — Stavanger currently looks more expensive than the baseline market on a PPP basis, so the same income buys less day to day.
Is Stavanger cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Stavanger is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 10% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Stavanger.
How does rent in Stavanger compare with New York City?
Rent in Stavanger is about 64% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City).
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Stavanger?
Groceries in Stavanger are about 6% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 3% cheaper than the same benchmark.
About Stavanger
Stavanger is a coastal city in southwestern Norway, set on the Boknafjord and serving as the country's de facto oil capital. Its population of around 148,700 anchors an economy built on the Norwegian Continental Shelf petroleum industry, with Equinor headquartered in the city and a dense cluster of oilfield services, subsea engineering, and energy research firms in the surrounding region. Sola airport provides direct international flights and helicopter service to offshore installations. The University of Stavanger is the main higher-education institution. Norwegian is the working language alongside very widespread English use in the energy sector. The maritime climate is mild and wet year-round. For relocators, Stavanger combines high Norwegian living costs with one of the country's most internationalized job markets outside Oslo.
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