Updated November 10, 2026. Indicative score. Weights: entertainment 11.73% (destinations and venues within 50 km); bars 3.73%; safety 15% with a penalty; water at country level; land price per m² = official source (ITBI, Terracap, registries, valuations) or listings with a caveat · coverage 100%
Panama City has an indicative score of 7.00/10 in the World ranking of Onde Viver Bem, updated November 10, 2026. The strongest published variables are Airport (10.00), Parks (10.00) and Beach / mountains (10.00); the weakest are Safety (2.92), Bars (5.99) and Mild climate (6.40). The scores are indicative. Cost of living and the land price per m² are not part of the score. Some figures on this page are estimates and carry the “estimated” badge.
safety: undetermined-intent deaths estimated from the national ratio; amenities without municipal density (2 km count only, tends to saturate); safety: feeling of safety at national level only (Gallup); safety: robbery in a regional cut (province of Panama); estimated: safely managed water (basic access × regional ratio); estimated: land price per m² (apartment × ratio of comparable cities); safety penalty: score capped at 7.0 (rate 28.1/100k; 7.11 without the penalty)
Land price per m²
US$ 357/m²estimated · range US$ 298–US$ 588
unofficial ESTIMATE: apartment (Numbeo) × land/apartment ratio of comparable cities · source
Note: ESTIMATE (not a measurement; UNOFFICIAL base): no land price collected. Land m² = apartment m² outside the centre (Numbeo, $1,748.83 ≈ US$ 1,749) × median land÷apartment ratio in 6 Spanish-speaking Latin American cities with a published land price (0.204) = US$ 357/m² (range US$ 298–588). Ratios: Mendoza 0.167, Santiago 0.228, Valparaíso 0.145, Bogotá 0.550, Medellín 0.180, Montevidéu 0.372.
Score breakdown
Each criterion's score, its weight in the total and the raw figure, linked to its source.
raw: 28.05 per 100k pop. · 40% violent deaths (log 30→0, 0.5→10 per 100k) + 30% city robbery ÷ country average (log 5×→0, 0.5×→10) + 30% share who feel safe at night (lin 30%→0, 95%→10); any part without data: weights renormalized
Composite safety: violent deaths 28.1 per 100k → 0.2 (weight 40%) · robbery 1.80× the country average (province of Panama, 2024 (preliminar)) → 4.4 (weight 30%) · 63.0% feel safe walking alone at night (Panama (national), 2024) → 5.1 (weight 30%).
raw: 5.0 km · beach: distance log 5 km→10, 150 km→0; mountains: richness of nature leisure (mean of the top 3 of 4 counts, 50 km) × access (1 up to 15 km → 0 at 150 km, log), 0 with no relief; score = min(10, max(beach, mountains) + 0.3·min)
raw: 0.901 % withdrawal / available resources · average: stress log 100%→0, 10%→10; safe water lin 50%→0, 100%→10
Estimate: ESTIMATE (not a measurement): the World Bank/JMP does not publish the % using safely managed water for the country. Estimate = at least basic access (95.3%, World Bank 2024) × median safely-managed÷basic ratio in 17 Latin America & Caribbean countries with basic access ≥ 95% (0.702) = 66.9% (range 54.3–89.6%). Water stress: measured (World Bank).
raw: Average of two mapping sources, OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps (Overture count ÷ K, K = median Overture/OSM ratio across the 39 cities: 2.57 within 2 km, 3.41 in the municipality); each source: 50% log1p(count within 2 km), 1000→10 + 50% log1p(per 10k pop.), 30→10. Brazil: 50% of that score + 50% log1p(CNPJ per 10k pop. ÷ K), 30→10
raw: Average of two mapping sources, OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps (Overture count ÷ K, K = median Overture/OSM ratio across the 39 cities: 2.48 within 2 km, 3.20 in the municipality); each source: 50% log1p(count within 2 km), 500→10 + 50% log1p(per 10k pop.), 10→10. Brazil: 50% of that score + 50% log1p(CNPJ per 10k pop. ÷ K), 10→10
raw: 44.0 count of OSM objects · log1p(count), 150→10
The city
Panama City is the capital and most populous city of Panama. Its population, according to 2010 data, is 880,691, with a total of 1,272,672 in its metropolitan area. It lies at the Panama Canal, on the Pacific Ocean, in the province of Panama. The city is classified as a beta city, one of only three in Central America in this category.
English rendering of the Portuguese Wikipedia summary linked below. Source: wikipedia_pt. Wikipedia revision 73398338 (2026-11-08T17:22:29Z).
Taxation
Impuesto de Transferencia (transfer tax) + Impuesto de Inmueble (property tax); no official local rate collected yet (we do not invent the figure). GAP: not collected; suggested source: DGI Panama (MEF)
Frequently asked questions
What is the Onde Viver Bem score for Panama City?
Panama City has an indicative score of 7.00/10 in the World ranking, updated November 10, 2026. Cost of living is not part of the score.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the score for Panama City?
The strongest published variables are Airport (10.00), Parks (10.00) and Beach / mountains (10.00); the weakest are Safety (2.92), Bars (5.99) and Mild climate (6.40).
Does cost of living or the land price per m² enter the score?
No. Cost of living and the land price per m² appear on the page but are not part of the score. See the methodology.
How is the score calculated?
It is an indicative 0–10 quality-of-life index, with 13 variables and published weights. Safety has a 15% weight and, when local data exist, a lethal-violence penalty may cap the total. The full method is on the methodology page.
Are any figures on this page estimates?
Yes. Some values are documented estimates, labelled with the “estimated” badge in the technical notes. The method is explained in the Estimates section.
Informational content and indicative scores. This is not advice on investing, immigration, buying property or choosing a career. Every metric cites its source; cost of living is not part of the score.
