What costs the same and what changes
| Item | Panama City | Interior and beaches | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic food basket, family | 365.88 balboas | 341.81 balboas, rest of urban country | Finance Ministry, March 2026 |
| 25-pound gas cylinder, subsidised | 4.37 balboas | 4.27 to 6.90 by province | National Government, March 2026 |
| 95-octane petrol, per litre | 1.384 balboas | 1.397 in Santiago; 1.405 in David; 1.434 in Changuinola | Energy Secretariat, 18 September to 2 October 2026 |
| Electricity, 11 to 300 kWh | 0.177 balboas per kWh, ENSA | 0.176 Naturgy central; 0.192 Chiriquí | ASEP, tariff from 1 September 2026 |
| Residential internet, 500 Mbps | 30 to 33 balboas a month | Same where fibre exists; satellite 45 to 70 in rural areas | Operators, September 2026 |
| Public transport | Metro 0.35 and 0.50; MiBus 0.25 | No Metro; intercity buses | Metro de Panamá and MiBus |
The electricity subsidy covers customers using up to 300 kWh a month, about 76% of users, and in September 2026 the Cabinet approved an extra 32 million so the tariff does not rise until December. Above that usage the kWh climbs to 0.23 and 0.27 balboas.
Housing: where the gap opens
| Area | Asking rent per square metre per month | Two-bedroom apartment, approximate | Sale price per square metre, new build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costa del Este | 13.45 dollars | 1,100 to 1,150 dollars | 3,700 dollars |
| Punta Pacífica | 13.44 dollars | 1,100 to 1,150 dollars | Up to 4,200 dollars |
| Bella Vista | 13.00 dollars | 1,100 dollars | 3,782 dollars |
| El Cangrejo | 11.76 dollars | 1,000 dollars | 1,900 to 2,700 dollars |
| San Francisco | 11.61 dollars | 985 dollars | 3,673 dollars |
| Panamá Oeste, La Chorrera | No published series | No published series | 681 to 1,200 dollars |
| David | No published series | 265 to 850; about 500 typical | No published series |
| Boquete | No published series | 450 to 700 unfurnished; 700 to 1,200 for expats | No published series |
| Coronado and San Carlos | No published series | 900 to 1,500; furnished 1,600 to 2,500 | No published series |
| Pedasí | No published series | Houses from 850 to 2,400 | No published series |
| Colón | No published series | 400 to 425 basic; 850 furnished | No published series |
| Santiago | No published series | 500 to 650 | No published series |
Per-square-metre prices for the capital come from the May and June 2026 market study of listings on Encuentra24, InmoPanamá and the ACOBIR MLS; the apartment equivalent is our own calculation on 85 square metres. Interior prices are ranges of active listings in September 2026, not official medians. Sale prices per square metre are from 4S Real Estate, published July 2026.
Average apartment rent in the capital rose 13.5% in a year to 14.70 dollars per square metre in June 2026. In the sales market, the city median is 2,208 dollars per square metre and the secondary market average 1,726. A study by Universidad Torcuato Di Tella ranked Panama City the ninth most expensive Latin American capital per square metre in 2025.
Income against expenses
| Province | Average monthly salary |
|---|---|
| Colón | 787.70 dollars |
| Panama | 786.70 dollars |
| Panamá Oeste | 773.10 dollars |
| Herrera | 689.70 dollars |
| Chiriquí | 688.30 dollars |
| Veraguas | 682.30 dollars |
| Los Santos | 670.60 dollars |
| Bocas del Toro | 619.40 dollars |
| National | 756 dollars; urban 788.70; rural 581.40 |
On those incomes, from the statistics institute’s Labour Market Survey of September 2025, a capital household on an average salary spends half on the food basket and cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco. The 2026 minimum wage distinguishes two regions: Region 1 includes Panama, San Miguelito, Colón, David, Santiago, Chitré, La Chorrera and Arraiján, with 3.02 balboas an hour in large retail; Region 2, where Boquete, Pedasí, Coronado and Bocas sit, pays 2.48.
Private education and healthcare
The consumer protection authority published in October 2025 the costs of 140 private schools for the 2026 school year: annual fees range from 400 balboas to more than 7,000, with the most expensive in the capital, 8,166 for secondary at Isaac Rabin, and in Panamá Oeste, 8,020 at Sabis. 79% of schools did not raise prices. A basic local private health plan costs between 21 and 71 dollars a month according to brokers; mid-range plans 200 to 350, and international ones up to 460; a private general practitioner consultation starts at 20 dollars and a specialist in a private hospital at 150.
Panama against the region
Mercer placed Panama City 151st of 226 cities in its 2024 cost-of-living index, tenth in Latin America, below Mexico City, San José and Montevideo and above Bogotá. Numbeo estimates a four-person household spends 3,016 dollars a month excluding rent and that living in Panama is 34% cheaper than in the United States, with rents 56% lower. A single resident spends about 1,590 dollars a month in the capital, similar to San José and slightly above Mexico City, and half of Miami, according to private estimates from June 2026.
How much to budget by city
| City | Single person | Couple | What explains it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panama City | 1,700 to 3,600 dollars | 2,400 to 4,500 dollars | Rent from 1,000 to 2,200 |
| Boquete | 1,200 to 2,000 dollars | 2,000 to 3,200 dollars | Cool climate, rent 700 to 1,200, no air conditioning |
| Coronado and Panamá Oeste beaches | No published estimate | 2,400 to 4,800 dollars | Rent 700 to 1,500; everything brought from the capital |
| Pedasí | No published estimate | 2,000 to 3,000 dollars | Rent 500 to 1,000; petrol and food slightly dearer |
| David | From 1,700 dollars | Up to 3,300 dollars | Rent 400; electricity dearer because of the heat |
| Bocas del Toro | From 1,050 dollars | No published estimate | Rent 460 to 1,350; the country’s most expensive petrol |
Budgets estimated by expat publications between April and September 2026. They are not official figures and assume a middle-class standard of living in rented housing.
What nobody has answered yet
- What is the median salary? The statistics institute publishes the average, which the capital’s high incomes push up; the median, more representative, does not appear in the bulletin.
- How much does it cost to live in David, Santiago or Colón by official data? The consumer price index and the basket are published only for Panama province and the “rest of the urban country”, with no breakdown by city.
- What is the real median rent by area? Portals publish asking price per square metre, not the price at which contracts close.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the basic food basket in Panama?
365.88 balboas a month for a family in Panama City and San Miguelito, and 341.81 in the rest of the urban country, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance as of March 2026.
How much does it cost to rent an apartment in Panama City?
Asking rent is about 11.6 dollars per square metre per month in San Francisco and 13.4 in Costa del Este or Punta Pacífica, which puts a two-bedroom apartment between 1,000 and 1,150 dollars. In El Cangrejo, around 1,000.
Which is the cheapest city to live in Panama?
Among cities with data, David, Santiago and Colón have the lowest rents, 400 to 650 dollars for two bedrooms, with average salaries of 680 to 790 dollars. Boquete is dearer because of expat demand.
Is Panama more expensive than Costa Rica or Colombia?
Panama City and San José cost about the same for a single person, around 1,575 to 1,590 dollars a month by 2026 estimates; Bogotá is cheaper, about 1,100. Mercer ranks Panama below San José and Mexico City in its index.
Related articles
Sources
- Ministry of Economy and Finance, basic family food basket, March 2026.
- Infobae, consumer price index for August 2026.
- INEC, consumer price index for December 2025.
- Vaca Group, rent and sale study by area, May and June 2026.
- La Prensa, sale prices per square metre according to 4S Real Estate.
- La Prensa, ranking of capitals by square metre.
- Panamá América, average salary by province according to INEC.
- La Prensa, minimum wage by region and activity.
- Nexo, ASEP electricity tariff from September 2026.
- La Prensa, electricity subsidy to December 2026.
- Telemetro, fuel prices by province.
- Telemetro, 25-pound gas price by province.
- MiBus, public transport fares.
- La Prensa, private school costs according to ACODECO.
- Revisa24, private health insurance guide.
- Latin Times, Mercer 2024 cost-of-living index.
- Livingcost, monthly cost estimate by city, June 2026.
- International Living, expat budgets, April 2026.
Ask about this article
Type your question and we will show you the answer inside this article or in other Radar Panamá publications.
