Country guide · Philippines
Moving to Philippines: cost of living, salaries, taxes, visas
Manila and Cebu offer an English-speaking, very low-cost base; territorial taxation of foreign income for many residents; islands-lifestyle appeal.
The Philippines — anchored by Manila for our data — is one of the most accessible Asian bases for English speakers, with low costs and a large services economy. Manila is the dense commercial centre; Cebu balances city amenities with quicker access to islands and beaches.
A major draw is tax treatment: resident foreigners are generally taxed only on Philippine-sourced income, leaving foreign-paid remote salaries outside the local net for many — though status and rules must be confirmed case by case. Infrastructure, traffic, and typhoon exposure are the practical trade-offs.
Data signals
What the numbers say about Philippines
The take-home math
Take-home pay in Philippines is shaped by a roughly 16% effective payroll deduction (income tax + social security), with VAT at 12%.
The main hub
Its primary hub, Manila, carries a cost index of 20 (New York = 100).
Cost spread within the country
Across the 2 Philippines cities we track, the cost index spans 19 (Cebu) to 20 (Manila).
Income per capita
Average income in Philippines
Philippines's income per capita is about $13,330 (GNI, PPP-adjusted US$), per the World Bank (2024). No comparable national wage survey is published for Philippines, so this is an income proxy rather than an average-salary figure. Source: World Bank.
This is a country-wide figure. For what you actually need to earn in a specific city, see the salary-by-lifestyle breakdown on each city's cost-of-living page.
At a glance
Philippines relocation profile
Vs the catalog average
Is Manila cheap or expensive, relatively?
Manila's cost and rent index against the mean across every city Mundevo covers.
Index base: New York = 100. Catalog average is the unweighted mean across all cities Mundevo tracks, recomputed on every build.
Tax and visa landscape
Headline tax model + entry-point visa overview for relocators.
- Effective income tax: 12.0%
- Social security (employee): 4.0%
- Total payroll deduction: 16.0%
- VAT: 12.0%
- Currency: PHP
Effective rates assume a single salaried filer at country median wage. Special regimes (e.g. expat-favoring schemes) are not applied here — see the visa guide for those.
A dedicated visa guide for Philippines is not yet published. For current rules and category eligibility, contact the Philippines consulate in your country of residence.
Salary bands at Manila — by role
Illustrative gross-salary bands for 6 senior IC roles in Manila. Derived from NYC anchor × Philippines pay-tier multiplier. Cross-check Levels.fyi, Glassdoor before negotiating.
| Role | P25 | P50 | P75 | NYC anchor (P50) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineer | ₱4,162,037 | ₱5,166,667 | ₱6,601,852 | $180,000 |
| Product manager | ₱4,305,556 | ₱5,597,222 | ₱7,462,963 | $195,000 |
| UX / product designer | ₱2,841,667 | ₱3,745,833 | ₱5,037,500 | $145,000 |
| Marketing manager | ₱2,454,167 | ₱3,358,333 | ₱4,520,833 | $130,000 |
| Data scientist | ₱3,875,000 | ₱5,023,148 | ₱6,601,852 | $175,000 |
| Finance analyst | ₱3,157,407 | ₱4,449,074 | ₱6,314,815 | $155,000 |
Top relocation corridors
Closest peers by cost-of-living index — the moves most commonly considered alongside Philippines.