Cost of Living in Oman
Image credit: Izeberg007
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Oman: $36,721/capita.
Cities in Oman
Income Category
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 56% 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 Oman.
Quality
Public schools are for nationals
Expat access
Not practical for international families
not practicalInstruction
Arabic
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Oman's public school system is Arabic-medium and primarily for Omani nationals. Muscat has a range of private and international schools for the expat community, including IB and British curriculum options.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Public schools are oriented toward Omani nationals. Expat families in Muscat use the private and international school sector.
📋 Homeschooling
Legal with MOE registrationOman allows homeschooling for residents with registration at the Ministry of Education. Must use an approved curriculum and submit to periodic assessment. Growing expat community in Muscat uses this pathway.
Homeschool legality in Oman — 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 Oman.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$700-$900
1 tracked city, not a national average
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$1,150-$1,550
1 tracked city, not a national average
Source: curated family relocation research
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Oman.
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
GoodLow out-of-pocket burden and life expectancy is high help, but hospital capacity looks tighter.
Public care
StrongStrong public funding, relatively low patient cost-sharing, 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
73/100
2023
Physicians
1.99/1k
2022
Hospital beds
0.99/1k
2023
Out of pocket
6%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
80.2 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
13/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
5.8/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base and there is visible specialty depth 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 Oman 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 Oman · Source: GDP-derived estimate
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival.
About Oman
Oman is a high-income country of 5,281,538 people, with Muscat as the main practical base for most relocators. Costs sit in a moderate band: cheaper than the UAE, but more expensive than South Asia, so housing and car-dependent routines matter when comparing budgets. Arabic is the official language, and daily life is easiest in Muscat, where healthcare facilities are modern and 4G/5G coverage is stronger; outside major cities, services are adequate but less consistent. Safety is one of Oman’s clearest advantages, with very high rankings and a calmer pace than the neighboring Emirates. The climate is the big tradeoff: mild winters are easy, but hot arid summers can exceed 45°C, shaping work hours, housing choices, and whether you really want to live beyond the capital.
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Common questions about Oman
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
How much does it cost to live in Oman?
The cost of living in Oman is about 56% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 44. 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 Oman?
$1 goes about 2.1x further in Oman than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 2.06). 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 Oman?
To move to Oman you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_on_arrival. 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 Oman?
The best cities to live in Oman are Muscat — those are the most-searched options among the 1 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