Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of California, you would:

Health

be 71.2% less likely to be obese

In California, 28.4% of adults are obese as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.2% of people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Economy

be 38.2% less likely to be unemployed

In California, 5.1% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.1% as of 2025.

View global rankings →

make 99.0% less money

California has a GDP per capita of $84,028 as of 2024, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $846 as of 2025.

View global rankings →

Basic Needs

be 72.9% less likely to have internet access

In California, approximately 92.6% of the population has internet access as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, about 25.1% do as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Sources: World Bank (2024–2025), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), World Health Organization (2024), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023). How we calculate this

Compare further: California vs. Sierra Leone

Cost of Living Comparison · 6 categories - 2026 data
Sierra Leone is 56.7% cheaper than California
→
Size Comparison · See true size
California is about 6 times bigger than Sierra Leone.
→
Moving from California to Sierra Leone · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→

Sierra Leone: At a glance

Sierra Leone is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 71,620 sq km. Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about a third of the population). The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 and 2012 national elections, and over the past year have deployed over 850 peacekeepers in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). As of January 2014, Sierra Leone also fielded 122 staff for five UN peacekeeping missions. In March 2014, the closure of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) marked the end of more than 15 years of peacekeeping and political operations in Sierra Leone. The government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.
Read more

How big is Sierra Leone compared to California? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Sierra Leone or United States. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.