Cost of Living inManila, Philippines
Image credit: airforcefe from Richmond
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Philippines: $10,376/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 66% 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; Manila-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
Current nanny and household-help pricing snapshot for Manila, Philippines.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$450-$650
monthly · confidence 0.65
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$750-$1,050
monthly · confidence 0.65
Source: curated family relocation research
Getting Around
The concrete mobility picture for Manila: airport access, urban transit, and rideshare practicality.
Airport
Major international gateway
NAIA remains the Philippines’ main international air gateway and gives Manila the country’s broadest flight network.
Urban transit
LRT, MRT, and bus
Metro Manila has a real rail component through the LRT and MRT lines, with buses and jeepney-style services covering much of the rest.
Rideshare
Grab available
Grab is a normal first/last-mile and airport fallback across Metro Manila.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
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
LimitedThe tracked private-style network still looks thin, the private footprint is not very visible yet, and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
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
LimitedThe private footprint is still thin, price 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 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 Manila, 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 Manila compared with the US?
Your money goes about 2.6x further in Manila than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate.
Is Manila cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Manila is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 66% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Manila.
How does rent in Manila compare with New York City?
Rent in Manila is about 84% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City).
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Manila?
Groceries in Manila are about 59% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 74% cheaper than the same benchmark.
About Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines and the historical core of a metropolitan region of over 13 million, though the city proper holds about 1.6 million. It sits on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, and the broader metro spreads across 16 cities including Quezon City, Makati, and Taguig. For relocators it is one of Southeast Asia's most-debated destinations: English is genuinely a working language alongside Filipino, the cost of living is meaningfully lower than Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, and the SRRV retirement visa is among the most accessible in the region. The persistent trade-offs are some of the world's worst traffic, frequent typhoon-season flooding, and uneven public infrastructure outside the central business districts.
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