Cost of Living inDavao, Philippines
Image credit: Choy4311
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Philippines: $10,376/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 69% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Income Category
Happiness
6.0 / 10
#52 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 Philippines; Davao-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
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)
International & private schools
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in Philippines.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$295-$650
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$510-$1,050
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Davao is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
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
MixedA meaningful tracked hospital and clinic network 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
LimitedMultiple facilities have websites and there is visible specialty depth 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 Davao, Philippines · Source: PSA LFS (region-adjusted)
Price Comparison vs. US
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 PhilippinesQuick 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 Davao compared with the US?
Your money goes about 3.9x further in Davao than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate.
Is Davao cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Davao is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 69% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Davao.
How does rent in Davao compare with New York City?
Rent in Davao is about 93% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City).
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Davao?
Groceries in Davao are about 66% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 75% cheaper than the same benchmark.
About Davao
Davao is the largest city in Mindanao, the Philippines' southern island, and one of the geographically largest cities in the world by administrative area, encompassing Mount Apo, the country's highest peak. It is the political base of the Duterte family and gained domestic and international attention for the strict public-order policies enforced during Rodrigo Duterte's long mayoralty. The economy is anchored in banana, pineapple, and cacao exports, port logistics, and an expanding business-process outsourcing sector. For relocators Davao offers a meaningfully calmer urban environment than Manila or Cebu, a tropical climate without typhoon exposure thanks to its southern latitude, lower cost of living, and English widely usable alongside Cebuano. Direct international flights are limited mostly to regional hubs.
See the full breakdown — free
No password needed. Takes ~30 seconds.