Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Nicaragua instead of New York, you would:

Health

be 16.7% more likely to be obese

In New York, 29.9% of adults are obese as of 2022. In Nicaragua, that number is 34.9% of people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Economy

be 14.5% more likely to be unemployed

In New York, 4.4% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Nicaragua, that number is 5.0% as of 2025.

View global rankings →

make 96.6% less money

New York has a GDP per capita of $91,992 as of 2024, while in Nicaragua, the GDP per capita is $3,173 as of 2025.

View global rankings →

Basic Needs

be 31.5% less likely to have internet access

In New York, approximately 89.7% of the population has internet access as of 2023. In Nicaragua, about 61.4% 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: New York vs. Nicaragua

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Nicaragua is 65.5% cheaper than New York
→
Size Comparison · See true size
New York is around the same size as Nicaragua.
→
Moving from New York to Nicaragua · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→

Nicaragua: At a glance

Nicaragua is a sovereign country in Central America/Caribbean, with a total land area of approximately 119,990 sq km. The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. After losing free and fair elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra was elected president in 2006 and reelected in 2011. The 2008 municipal elections, 2010 regional elections, 2011 presidential elections, 2012 municipal elections, and 2013 regional elections were marred by widespread irregularities. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt, but democratic institutions have been weakened under the ORTEGA administration.
Read more

How big is Nicaragua compared to New York? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Nicaragua 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.