Cost of Living inRaqqa, Syria
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Syria: $4,455/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 75% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Using the country-level NYC comparison for now. We do not have a defensible city-level aggregate cost index for this city yet.
Income Category
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-school quality, expat access, instruction language, and homeschool legality for relocating families.
Public schools
Public-schooling rules are set nationally for Syria; Raqqa-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Limited public-school fit
Expat access
Usually not practical for expats
not practicalInstruction
Arabic
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Syria's public-school path is not a practical default for expat families given ongoing conflict-era disruption and local-language dependence.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Even where resident enrollment may be possible, Arabic-medium instruction and current system disruption make the public route usually impractical for expat families.
π« Homeschooling
Homeschooling not permittedSyria requires compulsory school attendance. Homeschooling is not legally permitted. The ongoing civil war has severely disrupted the education system, but this does not constitute a legal homeschooling framework.
Homeschool legality in Syria β check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in Syria.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$300-$500
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$550-$800
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Raqqa is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Syria.
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.
Hospital and clinic listings for Raqqa are still being verified. The country-level health-system summary for Syria applies; named facilities and direct self-pay prices appear here only after they are source-backed.
Healthcare system
LimitedMaternal mortality is low help, but hospital capacity looks tighter and households still pay a large share themselves.
Public care
LimitedPublic funding looks lighter and patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs weigh on this rating.
Private care
LimitedThis is an inferred read based on facility depth, private ownership signals, and available self-pay pricing.
UHC coverage
70/100
2023
Physicians
1.52/1k
2021
Hospital beds
1.43/1k
2021
Out of pocket
72%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
72.6 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
20/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
9.5/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedPrice transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
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 Syria yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
System metrics: World Bank WDI Β· 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 | β |
| Agriculture & Farming | β |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | β |
| Construction | β |
| Education | β |
| Finance & Insurance | β |
| Healthcare & Social Work | β |
| Hospitality & Food Service | β |
| Information & Technology | β |
| Manufacturing | β |
| Mining & Quarrying | β |
| Other Services | β |
| Professional & Scientific Services | β |
| Public Administration & Defence | β |
| Real Estate | β |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | β |
| Transport & Logistics | β |
| Utilities | β |
2022 annual wages in Raqqa, Syria Β· Source: GDP-derived estimate (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
Quick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page β no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Raqqa compared with the US?
Your money goes about 7.6x further in Raqqa than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Syria here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Raqqa cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Raqqa is cheaper overall than New York City β overall living costs are about 75% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Raqqa. We are using the country-level cost index for Syria here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Raqqa compare with New York City?
Rent in Raqqa is about 95% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Syria here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Raqqa?
Groceries in Raqqa are about 73% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 80% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Syria here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Raqqa
Raqqa (Ar Raqqah) sits on the north bank of the Euphrates in northern Syria, historically a major Abbasid-era city and more recently the de facto capital of the Islamic State from 2014 until its 2017 recapture by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a campaign that destroyed much of the urban core. The city remains under SDF and AANES administration with a complex and contested security situation, slow reconstruction, unexploded ordnance hazards, and limited basic services. Arabic is universal. Sanctions, contested governance, and security conditions effectively close the city to foreign relocators. Realistic only for humanitarian workers under specific organizational frameworks; should not be considered a general-purpose relocation destination under current conditions.
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