Cost of Living in Philippines
Image credit: Ramon FVelasquez
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Philippines: $10,376/capita.
Cities in Philippines
Income Category
Happiness
6.0 / 10
#52 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 70% 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 Philippines.
Quality
Mixed public-school option
Expat access
Available to residents
conditionalInstruction
English / Filipino
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
The Philippines has a more English-friendly public path than many peers, but quality still varies too much for the system to feel universally strong.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident families can generally access public schools, and English helps, but many expat households still choose private options for predictability.
📋 Homeschooling
Legal with DepEd accreditationHomeschooling is legal through DepEd-accredited homeschool providers. The Alternative Learning System (ALS) provides a pathway. Individual families typically work through an accredited program rather than independently.
Homeschool legality in Philippines — 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 Philippines.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$295-$650
5 tracked cities, not a national average
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$510-$1,050
5 tracked cities, not a national average
Source: curated family relocation research
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Philippines.
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
LimitedDoctor staffing is lighter, hospital capacity looks tighter, and households still pay a large share themselves weigh on this rating.
Public care
LimitedA visible public hospital footprint help, but public funding looks lighter and patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs.
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
69/100
2023
Physicians
0.79/1k
2021
Hospital beds
0.97/1k
2021
Out of pocket
44%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
69.9 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
84/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
13.6/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base and multiple facilities have websites help, but price transparency is still sparse and headline outcomes are less reassuring.
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 Philippines 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 | — |
2023 annual wages in Philippines · Source: ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can stay up to 30 days without a visa.
Long-Term Visa Programs
retirement
SRRV Classic PhilippinesAbout Philippines
Philippines is a lower-middle-income country in East Asia & Pacific where Manila sets the main relocation benchmark: costs are very low, with comfortable living often documented around $800-1,500 a month, but the tradeoffs are real. English is an official language alongside Filipino, which makes administration, housing searches, and day-to-day services easier than in many regional markets. Manila has the strongest healthcare base, while Cebu and Davao can work for people who want established expat communities outside the capital; beyond major cities, healthcare and internet reliability become more uneven, with typical connections around 10-50 Mbps. Safety is moderate, with petty theft and scams more relevant in tourist areas. The climate is hot and humid, and typhoon season from June to November should factor into housing and travel plans.
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Common questions about Philippines
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Philippines a good country to live in?
Philippines is a good country to live in per the World Happiness Report (6.0 of 10, ranking #52 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Philippines ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Philippines?
The cost of living in Philippines is about 70% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 30. 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 Philippines?
$1 goes about 3.2x further in Philippines than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 3.19). 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 Philippines?
To move to Philippines you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_free (30 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 Philippines?
The best cities to live in Philippines are Manila, Quezon City, Davao — those are the most-searched options among the 3 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