Cost of Living inRafaḩ, Palestine
Image credit: Gigi Ibrahim
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Palestine: $3,846/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 52% lower 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
4.9 / 10
#101 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-school quality, expat access, instruction language, and homeschool legality for relocating families.
Public schools
Public-schooling rules are set nationally for Palestine; Rafaḩ-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Limited public-school fit
Assessment snapshot: 2022
Expat access
Possible, but constrained
hardInstruction
Not specified
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
361
Well below OECD avg
PISA 2022 · OECD avg ~480
Why this quality rating
This is based on the current quality snapshot and local-school fit for relocating families.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Access depends on residency, language fit, and how realistic the public route is for non-local families.
❓ Homeschooling
Not specifically regulatedPalestinian territories have compulsory education laws but no specific homeschooling framework. The current conflict situation makes this largely theoretical. UNRWA-supported schools are the main education infrastructure.
Homeschool legality in Palestine — check current regulations before committing.
Source: oecd-pisa-2022 (2026-04-03)
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in Palestine.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$500-$750
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$900-$1,200
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Rafaḩ is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Palestine.
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
LimitedMaternal mortality is low help, but hospital capacity looks tighter and households still pay a large share themselves.
Public care
LimitedPublic funding looks lighter, patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs, and country-level outcomes are weaker 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
65/100
2023
Physicians
2.17/1k
2018
Hospital beds
1.30/1k
2022
Out of pocket
42%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
69.2 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
16/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
8.9/1k
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 Palestine 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 | — |
2025 annual wages in Rafaḩ, Palestine · Source: ILO ILOSTAT (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can enter without a visa.
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 Rafaḩ compared with the US?
Your money goes about 5.8x further in Rafaḩ than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Palestine here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Rafaḩ cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Rafaḩ is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 52% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Rafaḩ. We are using the country-level cost index for Palestine here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Rafaḩ compare with New York City?
Rent in Rafaḩ is about 90% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Palestine here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Rafaḩ?
Groceries in Rafaḩ are about 50% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 61% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Palestine here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Rafaḩ
Rafah sits at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, on the border between the Palestinian territories and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. It has historically been the only Gaza-Egypt land crossing point and a focal node for movement of people and goods in and out of the territory. The local economy has long been constrained by blockade and conflict, with the broader humanitarian situation since late 2023 marked by extensive displacement, destruction of infrastructure, and an active humanitarian emergency throughout Gaza, including Rafah itself. Arabic is essential. Realistically, this is not an expatriate relocation destination; access is overwhelmingly tied to humanitarian, medical, or diplomatic work under very severe constraints, and the entry is included for geographic and demographic completeness. The climate is hot semi-arid Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
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