Cost of Living in Singapore
Image credit: Someformofhuman
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Singapore: $132,570/capita.
Income Category
Happiness
6.5 / 10
#29 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 12% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Average Costs
Rent
Food
Transport
Utilities
Education
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 Singapore.
Quality
World-class public schools
Assessment snapshot: 2022
Expat access
Conditional for expat families
conditionalInstruction
English
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
575
Well above OECD avg
PISA 2022 · OECD avg ~480
Why this quality rating
Singapore consistently ranks at or near the top globally on PISA across math, reading, and science. The public system is highly competitive and academically demanding.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Expat children may enroll, but places in sought-after schools are limited and prioritised for citizens and permanent residents. Most expat families use international schools.
⚠️ Homeschooling
Legal but requires MOE approvalCompulsory Education Act allows exemptions for homeschooling, but approval from the Ministry of Education is required and selective. Parents must demonstrate capability and submit detailed plans. Annual assessments required. Relatively few families are approved.
Homeschool legality in Singapore — 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 Singapore.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$725-$1,000
1 tracked city, not a national average
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$1,150-$1,550
1 tracked city, not a national average
Source: curated family relocation research
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Singapore.
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
StrongHigh national coverage, life expectancy is high, and maternal mortality is low support this rating.
Public care
GoodBroad public coverage and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong support this rating.
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
88/100
2023
Physicians
2.83/1k
2022
Hospital beds
2.81/1k
2023
Out of pocket
25%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
83.3 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
6/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
1.1/1k
2024
International patient readiness
GoodA visible private hospital base and multiple facilities have websites help, but price transparency is still sparse.
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 Singapore 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 | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Real Estate | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
2021 annual wages in Singapore · Source: ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can enter without a visa.
Long-Term Visa Programs
investment
Global Investor Programmeworking holiday
Work Holiday PassAbout Singapore
Singapore is a high-income Southeast Asian city-state where the country page is really about one dense urban market: Singapore. Its cost of living sits well above the regional average, with housing, food, and services carrying a clear premium that relocators need to budget for before comparing salaries. The tradeoff is unusually reliable infrastructure: public transport works well, healthcare is strong in both public and private systems, safety levels are extremely high, and 1+ Gbps internet is common. English is one of four official languages alongside Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil, which makes daily administration easier for many expats. The climate is tropical, hot, and humid year-round. For professionals and founders, the Employment Pass and Tech Entrepreneur Pass make Singapore more accessible than its prices suggest.
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Common questions about Singapore
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Singapore a good country to live in?
Singapore is a good country to live in per the World Happiness Report (6.5 of 10, ranking #29 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Singapore ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Singapore?
The cost of living in Singapore is about 12% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 88. A 1-bedroom apartment in the city centre averages around $2698/month. Utilities for a small apartment run about $155/month. 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 Singapore?
$1 goes about 1.7x further in Singapore than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 1.71). 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 Singapore?
To move to Singapore you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_free. 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 Singapore?
The best cities to live in Singapore are Singapore — 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