Abu Dhabi vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1942	$2799
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4262	$6454
🏠 One person rent	$1271	$1702
🏘️ Family rent	$2152	$2727
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$702
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.2	$204
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3050	$5210
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	53	100
😀 Quality of life	85	97
🏙️ Population	1.57M	2.75M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 31% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 2187th and 394th ($1942 vs $2799) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 338th in the United Arab Emirates and the United States, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 1.9 months in Chicago. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Chicago ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 443rd and 16th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Chicago infographic

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Chicago

Prices for goods and services in Abu Dhabi and Chicago are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Abu Dhabi	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.9	$19.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.6	$86.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.53	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.7	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$5.6
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.34	$2.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1358	$1993
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1002	$1414
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2476	$3215
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1762	$2313
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.6	$108
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$168
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$102	$64.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.01%	6.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5485	$3645
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12028	$2499
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$74.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.63	$17
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$4.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$4.93
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.63	$5.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$14.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.07	$14.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$18.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$5.04
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$4.11
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$4.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$2.37
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$1.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$3.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$16.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.54	$2.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.29	$16.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.83	$12.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.73	$3.84
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.92	$2.14
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.4	$68.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$17.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.5	$135
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$28.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.4	$61.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.3	$94.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$598	$2032
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12663	$23423

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abu Dhabi

Distance	City	Cost of living
117 km or 73 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1730
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2514
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1419
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1449
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2521
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1183
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1228
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1398
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$1849
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1770
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$632
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$792
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1078
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1201
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1237
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1230
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1081
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$530
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$908
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1008
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$806
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$529
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$873
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$930
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$534
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$568
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$553
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$453
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$477
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$530
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$503
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$573
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$557
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$604
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$761
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$624
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$463
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1627
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1283
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$483

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2384
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2360
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2396
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2386
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2367
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2202
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2287
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2393
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2385
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2399
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2366
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2400
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2426
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2288
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2398
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2406
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2405
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2549
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2393
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2413
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2395
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$2030
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2327
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2392
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2379
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2462
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$2008
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2388
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2399
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2468
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2363
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2495
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2268
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2392
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2368
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2261
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2392
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$1989
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2376
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2426