Cost of Living in Sierra Leone
Image credit: Hussein Kefel
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Sierra Leone: $3,099/capita.
Cities in Sierra Leone
Income Category
Happiness
3.3 / 10
#138 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 40% higher than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Child Education
Public-schooling rules are not sourced for Sierra Leone yet. Country-level enrollment, instruction-language, and homeschool notes will appear here once verified.
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Sierra Leone. We publish this section only when we can tie it to verified local samples or a clearly marked country fallback.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Sierra Leone.
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
LimitedCoverage looks thinner, doctor staffing is lighter, and hospital capacity looks tighter weigh on this rating.
Public care
LimitedPublic coverage looks thinner, public funding looks lighter, and patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs weigh on this rating.
Private care
MixedA meaningful tracked hospital and clinic network and a clearly private facility base help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
48/100
2023
Physicians
0.13/1k
2022
Hospital beds
0.40/1k
2006
Out of pocket
54%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
62.0 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
354/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
28.3/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base and there is visible specialty depth help, but price transparency is still sparse and headline outcomes are less reassuring.
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 Sierra Leone 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 | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2018 annual wages in Sierra Leone · Source: ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival.
About Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is a low-income West African country of about 8.6 million people, with Freetown as the main urban base for most foreign arrivals and services. For SortaRich users, it belongs at the very affordable end of Sub-Saharan Africa rather than near the regional middle, but the low prices come with tradeoffs that matter more than rent. English is the official language, visa-on-arrival access and 90-day tourist visas are common, and the tropical climate means hot, humid conditions year-round plus a heavy May-to-October rainy season. Relocators should treat infrastructure as developing: internet often runs only moderate to slow at roughly 3-8 Mbps, healthcare is limited enough that serious cases may require evacuation, and safety planning should account for petty crime and periodic civil unrest risks.
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Common questions about Sierra Leone
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Sierra Leone a good country to live in?
Sierra Leone is a lower-rated country to live in per the World Happiness Report (3.3 of 10, ranking #138 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Sierra Leone ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Sierra Leone?
The cost of living in Sierra Leone is about 40% more expensive than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 140. 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 Sierra Leone?
$1 goes about 4.8x further in Sierra Leone than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 4.76). 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 Sierra Leone?
To move to Sierra Leone you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_on_arrival. 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 Sierra Leone?
The best cities to live in Sierra Leone are Freetown — 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