Cost of Living in Turkmenistan
Image credit: flydime
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Turkmenistan: $18,662/capita.
Cities in Turkmenistan
Income Category
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 4% higher than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Child Education
Public-schooling rules are not sourced for Turkmenistan 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 Turkmenistan. 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 Turkmenistan.
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
MixedGood national coverage and solid hospital-bed capacity help, but households still pay a large share themselves and newborn outcomes are weaker.
Public care
LimitedBroad public coverage help, but public funding looks lighter and patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs.
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
81/100
2023
Physicians
1.93/1k
2023
Hospital beds
3.60/1k
2021
Out of pocket
77%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
70.2 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
5/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
22.3/1k
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 Turkmenistan 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 | — |
2024 annual wages in Turkmenistan · Source: GDP-derived estimate
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
About Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is an upper-middle-income country in Europe & Central Asia where Ashgabat is the practical base for most relocators, because healthcare and infrastructure thin out quickly beyond the capital. Day-to-day costs are very low by regional standards, which is the main financial upside, but the country is not an easy open-door expat market: visas are restricted and sponsorship is required. Turkmen is the official language, so daily life can be limiting for newcomers who rely on English, especially outside major urban settings. The country is documented as safe for expats, though convenience is uneven, with moderate internet speeds and limited healthcare outside Ashgabat. The desert climate is another serious factor: extreme heat is part of the living calculation, not just a seasonal inconvenience.
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Common questions about Turkmenistan
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
How much does it cost to live in Turkmenistan?
The cost of living in Turkmenistan is about 4% more expensive than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 104. 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 Turkmenistan?
$1 goes about 2.3x further in Turkmenistan than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 2.31). 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 Turkmenistan?
To move to Turkmenistan you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_required. 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 Turkmenistan?
The best cities to live in Turkmenistan are Ashgabat — 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