Cost of Living inPanama City, Panama
Image credit: 123Hollic
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Panama: $36,395/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 53% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Income Category
Happiness
6.4 / 10
#38 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 Panama; Panama City-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
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)
International & private schools
Childcare & Domestic Help
Current nanny and household-help pricing snapshot for Panama City, Panama.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$900
monthly · confidence 0.65
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$1,800
monthly · confidence 0.65
Source: curated family relocation research
Getting Around
The concrete mobility picture for Panama City: airport access, urban transit, and rideshare practicality.
Airport
Major regional hub
Panama City is a major Latin America connection point.
Urban transit
Metro and bus
The metro helps a lot, though some neighborhoods still feel car-heavier than Lisbon or Vienna.
Rideshare
Uber widely available
Ride-hailing is normal and often easier than driving.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
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
MixedBroad public coverage and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong help, but patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs.
Private care
LimitedThe private footprint is not very visible yet and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
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
LimitedCountry-level outcomes are comparatively strong help, but the private footprint is still thin and 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 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 | — |
2024 annual wages in Panama City, Panama · Source: ILO ILOSTAT (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
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 PanamaQuick 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 Panama City compared with the US?
Your money goes about 2.2x further in Panama City than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate.
Is Panama City cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Panama City is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 53% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Panama City.
How does rent in Panama City compare with New York City?
Rent in Panama City is about 71% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City).
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Panama City?
Groceries in Panama City are about 46% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 57% cheaper than the same benchmark.
About Panama City
Panama City is the capital of Panama, sitting on the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal and serving as the country's overwhelming political, financial, and logistical center. The economy is built on canal revenues, banking and offshore services, the Colón Free Zone trade flows, regional headquarters for Latin American operations, and Tocumen International Airport's role as the dominant Latin American transit hub. Relocators should weigh a dollarized economy (Panama uses the US dollar alongside the balboa), the well-known Friendly Nations and pensionado residency programs, and good private healthcare against a hot humid tropical climate year-round, significant traffic congestion, and stark inequality between the financial-district skyline and surrounding informal neighborhoods. Spanish is essential outside expatriate-heavy areas; English is widely used in banking and tourism.
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