Cost of Living inMaracaibo, Venezuela
Image credit: Wilfredor
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Venezuela: $4,218/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 62% 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
Happiness
5.6 / 10
#77 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
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 Venezuela; Maracaibo-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Limited public-school fit
Expat access
Usually not practical for expats
not practicalInstruction
Spanish
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Venezuela's public-school path is not usually a compelling default for expat families seeking predictability and strong support.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Even where resident enrollment is possible, Spanish-medium instruction and system instability make the public route usually unattractive for expat families.
❓ Homeschooling
Not specifically regulatedVenezuela has constitutional provisions for education but homeschooling is not specifically addressed. The economic crisis has severely disrupted formal schooling. Not a primary destination for worldschooling families under current conditions.
Homeschool legality in Venezuela — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
International & private schools
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in Venezuela.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$325-$500
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$575-$850
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Maracaibo is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Venezuela.
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
LimitedGood national coverage help, but hospital capacity looks tighter and maternal outcomes are weaker.
Public care
LimitedA visible public hospital footprint help, but public funding looks lighter and country-level outcomes are weaker.
Private care
LimitedA meaningful tracked hospital and clinic network help, but the private footprint is not very visible yet and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
75/100
2023
Physicians
1.66/1k
2017
Hospital beds
0.99/1k
2020
Out of pocket
30%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
72.7 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
227/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
15.0/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedThere is visible specialty depth help, but the private footprint is still thin and price transparency is still sparse.
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 Venezuela 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 |
|---|---|
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
2020 annual wages in Maracaibo, Venezuela · Source: ILO ILOSTAT (sector aggregate) (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 — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Maracaibo compared with the US?
Your money goes about 22.5x further in Maracaibo than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Venezuela here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Maracaibo cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Maracaibo is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 62% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Maracaibo. We are using the country-level cost index for Venezuela here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Maracaibo compare with New York City?
Rent in Maracaibo is about 93% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Venezuela here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Maracaibo?
Groceries in Maracaibo are about 58% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 59% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Venezuela here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Maracaibo
Maracaibo is the capital of Zulia State and Venezuela's second-largest city, sitting on the northwestern shore of Lake Maracaibo near the Colombian border. About 1.75 million people live in the metro, and the city was historically the center of the country's oil industry — most of Venezuela's crude was pumped from beneath the lake. The collapse of PDVSA's production, chronic electricity shortages, and water rationing have hollowed out the middle class and pushed heavy emigration toward Colombia and beyond. For relocators it is generally not a recommended destination: USD is widely used in practice, but security, healthcare access, and reliable utilities are serious daily concerns that outweigh the low nominal cost of living.
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