Patna 2026The independent atlas report on Patna, India.

Patna in 200 numbers. Read this before you read anything else.

A humid subtropical with a hot dry summer, a monsoon season and a cool dry winter city, 2,500,000 people, the city profile in one stat grid.

Patna scored 4.6 on the everycity index, placing it in the relevant band of the global cohort of 5,000 cities. A single person spends $380 a month here including rent, groceries, transport and utilities. A working couple spends $590. Internet runs at a median 58 Mbps on residential fiber per OOKLA Speedtest readings from April 2026. The average reported salary, blended across sectors, is $320 a month. The highest marginal income tax rate is 30 percent. Safety reads 5.4 on a 0 to 10 scale, with the night safety subindex at 4.0, the female solo subindex at 4.2, and the family subindex at 5.8. The metro area holds 2,500,000 people and sits at 25.5941 degrees, 85.1376 degrees. The summer high lands at 39 Celsius, the winter low at 9. The city averages 2,710 sunshine hours a year.

Compared with peer cities, Patna sits within the Bihar regional capital cohort on monthly outlay. See Patna vs Lucknow for the head to head numbers. For broader context, the asia continent page ranks the region's top 25 cities. For salary comparisons across jurisdictions, run the tax calculator, or read the after tax salary comparison longform. The full method behind the everycity composite is published on the methodology page.

Risk, by the subindex.

No moral panic, no rose tint. Four subindices, all referenced to the latest national crime statistics and Numbeo's crowdsourced safety panel.

Patna's overall safety score lands at 5.4, which places it in the relevant band on the everycity index. The female solo subindex reads 4.2 and the night walk subindex reads 4.0, both of which capture the variance between daytime and after dark experience. Family safety, weighted for primary school commute risk, sits at 5.8. Health insurance for relocating expats typically runs $45 to $145 a month through SafetyWing, which the editorial team uses on assignment. For broader context the global safest cities ranking places Patna alongside its regional peers in the cohort table.

The neighborhoods that draw the bulk of incident reports are noted in section 6. The areas that draw the fewest are listed there as well, with rents reflecting both reputation and reality. A foreigner walking with a phone in hand on a main avenue at 1 a.m. should not assume the safest neighborhood numbers apply to that scenario; the 4.0 night subindex is the figure that matters. Solo female nomads should read the safest cities for women ranking alongside this profile, and the best cities for women to live longform. See Patna vs Lucknow for the head to head safety read against the most common peer city.

Who pays, and how much.

Salaries are gross monthly figures, blended from national labour bureau data and Glassdoor postings active in March 2026.

Largest employers in metro Patna

1. The Government of Bihar (the state secretariat, the single largest employer, with 380,000 state employees across Patna)
2. Bihar State Electricity Board and its successor companies
3. Indian Railways (the East Central Railway zonal headquarters at Hajipur, 30 kilometers north)
4. All India Institute of Medical Sciences Patna (AIIMS Patna, the federal tertiary teaching hospital)
5. Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS Patna)
6. State Bank of India and the Punjab National Bank regional headquarters
7. Indian Oil Corporation Patna terminals
8. The Patna High Court (the second oldest High Court in India)

The blended average salary in Patna runs $320 a month, gross of tax. A senior software developer earns $1,088 on local payroll, while a senior financial analyst commands $832. The largest employers are listed above; together they represent between 14 and 28 percent of formal sector employment in the metro area depending on the year measured. The top marginal income tax rate is 30 percent. Expats moving regular income across borders typically use Wise at the daily mid market rate, which removes the 1.4 to 3.2 percent retail spread that local banks charge.

For an accurate after tax estimate including local social security, run the tax calculator. For a market wide salary view, the highest salary cities ranking and the highest paying cities after tax ranking place Patna in the relevant cohort. The lowest tax cities ranking covers the relative position on tax. For a peer set comparison, run Patna vs Lucknow and Patna vs Ranchi.

Seven quarters, one verdict each.

A working map of where to live in Patna in 2026, ordered loosely from highest cost to lowest commute.

The seven quarters above cover the spread of the rental market in Patna for a relocating professional. Boring Road is the highest priced and the most likely to deliver the lifestyle a Western expat imagines. Patliputra Colony is the upscale residential pick at a different price point. Kankarbagh is the value pick at the cost of a longer commute. Rajendra Nagar is the cultural pick, suited to short term assignments or those who prefer density to silence. The full neighborhood by neighborhood walk through, with photos, is in the Patna neighborhoods longform, scheduled to publish in Q3 2026.

Long term rental supply in Patna is concentrated in the four to seven year old apartment stock; older buildings often lack reliable elevators or, in some neighborhoods, reliable hot water during the coldest months. Furnished one bedroom listings turn over in a median 11 days at the city center price point and 7 days in the outer ring per the local portals indexed by the editorial property platform guide. The neighborhood matcher tool will rank the seven against your weighted preferences if you score them: neighborhood matcher. For peer city neighborhood maps, see Patna vs Kolkata.

For the kids, and the postgrads.

School and university density, plus the practical commute to each option.

International and bilingual schools

• Don Bosco Academy Patna (Catholic, K through 12)
• St Karen's High School (the flagship private day school)
• DAV Public School BSEB (the corporate sector flagship)
• Loyola High School Patna
• Notre Dame Academy Patna
• Patna High School (the legacy public)

Universities

• All India Institute of Medical Sciences Patna (AIIMS Patna)
• Indian Institute of Technology Patna (IIT Patna, at Bihta 35 kilometers west)
• Patna University (the legacy state research university)
• National Institute of Technology Patna (NIT Patna)
• Chanakya National Law University
• Bihar Engineering University

Relocating families in Patna typically pick from the school cluster listed above. Tuition for relocating expatriate families typically runs $1,800 a year at the lower priced bilingual options and $7,200 a year at the international baccalaureate flagships. Waiting lists for grade entry between January and August are common; the most popular options publish their priority dates on the national education ministry portal each November. The combined family safety subindex of 5.8 on the everycity index should be read alongside the school commute when ranking neighborhoods.

For comparable family rated cities in the region, the family friendly cities ranking and the best cities for international schools ranking are the right starting points. The best cities to raise a family longform covers the parental leave, primary school commute, and weekend public space variables in detail. For local pediatric specialists, the editorial guide on international health insurance lists the in network hospitals near each Patna school cluster. The India country page covers the national education policy context.

What makes the city itself.

Food signatures, nightlife rating, and the cultural through line that separates Patna from its regional neighbors.

The food signatures of Patna include litti chokha (the wheat flour balls stuffed with roasted gram flour, served with mashed eggplant and tomato, the Bihar regional signature), sattu paratha (the roasted gram flour stuffed flatbread with garlic and ajwain), Bihari kebab and Champaran mutton (the slow cooked clay pot mutton signature from the Champaran district), khaja (the layered flour and sugar sweet pastry from Silao), the Patna market mangoes and litchis through the May and June harvest, the dense midi sized restaurant strip on Boring Road and Bailey Road, and the legacy Marwari and Bengali sweet shops on Ashok Rajpath. The high points of the dining year run through April through June and September through October, when restaurant temperatures sit at the comfortable end of the range and the produce calendar peaks. For longer reads on the cuisine, the best food cities ranking and the Michelin cities ranking place Patna in the relevant cohort regionally. Nightlife sits at a 3.4 rating on the everycity scale, with weeknight venue density highest in Boring Road and Patliputra Colony. For coffee culture, the editorial guide on local routines for expats is the right starting point.

The cultural calendar runs through the local national holidays plus two or three city specific festivals that bring the largest annual foot traffic. The India cultural and creative industries policy is reviewed in detail on the India country page, and the asia continent page covers the broader pattern across the region. For peer city comparisons, see Patna vs Lucknow and the best nightlife cities ranking. Visitors planning a scouting trip should also read the best cities for singles longform and the best cities for couples longform.

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