Cost of Living in Panama
Image credit: Dozenist
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Panama: $36,395/capita.
Cities in Panama
Income Category
Happiness
6.4 / 10
#38 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 54% 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 Panama.
Quality
Limited public-school fit
Expat access
Possible for residents
conditionalInstruction
Spanish
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Panama’s public system is not the route most internationally mobile families use when they have other options.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident access is possible, but Spanish-medium instruction and weaker average quality make the public path less compelling for expats.
❓ Homeschooling
Not explicitly addressedPanama requires school attendance but does not specifically address homeschooling. Many expat families homeschool without interference. The school attendance law is not actively enforced for foreign residents.
Homeschool legality in Panama — 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 Panama.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$900
1 tracked city, not a national average
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$1,800
1 tracked city, not a national average
Source: curated family relocation research
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Panama.
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
GoodGood national coverage help, but households still pay a large share themselves.
Public care
GoodBroad public coverage and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong help, but patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs.
Private care
MixedA large tracked hospital and clinic network help, but the private footprint is not very visible yet and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
82/100
2023
Physicians
1.63/1k
2022
Hospital beds
1.95/1k
2023
Out of pocket
40%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
79.8 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
37/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
5.3/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedMultiple facilities have websites and there is visible specialty depth help, but the private footprint is still thin and price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Panama 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 Panama · Source: ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can stay up to 180 days without a visa.
Long-Term Visa Programs
digital nomad
Remote Worker Visa
Migrated from legacy digital_nomad_visas row 21
retirement
Pensionado Visa Panamaretirement
Rentista Visa PanamaAbout Panama
Panama is a high-income Latin America and Caribbean country where the strongest relocation case is practical: Panama City offers modern urban infrastructure, good healthcare, and fast, reliable internet, while day-to-day costs can still sit on the lower-cost side for expats, with meals around $5-15 and rents commonly $800-2000 per month. Spanish is the main language, but English is widely spoken, which lowers the friction for newcomers compared with many regional peers. The country is also relatively visa-friendly, with Pensioner, Friendly Nations, and Digital Nomad options documented. The tradeoffs are real: safety is mixed, with secure expat zones but more caution needed in outer areas, and the tropical climate means heat year-round plus a rainy season from May through November.
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Common questions about Panama
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Panama a good country to live in?
Panama is a good country to live in per the World Happiness Report (6.4 of 10, ranking #38 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Panama ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Panama?
The cost of living in Panama is about 54% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 46. 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 Panama?
$1 goes about 2.2x further in Panama than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 2.16). 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 Panama?
To move to Panama you have these visa options: Panama's digital-nomad visa "Remote Worker Visa" is valid for 9 months and requires a minimum income of $3,000/month. Tourist entry: visa_free (180 days). 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 Panama?
The best cities to live in Panama are Panama City — 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