Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 20.4 years less

In Washington, the average life expectancy is 79 years (78 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 59 years (57 years for men, 60 years for women) as of 2022.

View global rankings →

Economy

be 40.2% less likely to be unemployed

In Washington, 5.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2025. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.2% as of 2023.

View global rankings →

make 98.1% less money

Washington has a GDP per capita of $87,768 as of 2024, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $1,700 as of 2023.

View global rankings →

Basic Needs

be 86.4% less likely to have internet access

In Washington, approximately 93.1% of the population has internet access as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, about 12.7% do as of 2022.

View global rankings →

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, OECD Regional Demography, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Census Bureau (American Community Survey), Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Compare further: Washington vs. Sierra Leone

Cost of Living Comparison · 6 categories - 2026 data
Sierra Leone is 40.6% cheaper than Washington
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Washington is about 2.4 times bigger than Sierra Leone.
→

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 Washington? 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.