Abu Dhabi vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2133	$1321
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4670	$2809
🏠 One person rent	$1489	$810
🏘️ Family rent	$2612	$1372
🍽️ Food expenses	$432	$379
🚐 Transport expenses	$73.8	$44.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2773	$863
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	51	8
😀 Quality of life	85	64
🏙️ Population	1.57M	133K

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 62% more expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 1650th and 4490th ($2133 vs $1321) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in the United Arab Emirates and Maldives, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.7 months in Male. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 424th and 5278th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Male

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

	Abu Dhabi	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.11	$6.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.9	$38.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$9.71
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.9	$4.89
☕ Cappuccino	$5.69	$3.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$1.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1728	$808
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1197	$624
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3067	$1454
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2202	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97	$75.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$115
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$88	$73.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.64%	14.04%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4681	$2242
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8556	$1870
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.6	$32.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.63	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$0.95
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.87	$1.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$1.53
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.37
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.17	$1.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$6.43
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.69	$6.17
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$9.51
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.95	$3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$4.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$2.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$1.65
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.48	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$11.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$2.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.55	$15
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.49	$5.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$3.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.56	$3.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.22	$1.82
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.8	$75.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$9.64
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.9	$22.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.3	$4.32
👖 Brand Jeans	$63.1	$40.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$84.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$628	$191
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14421	$3305

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	$1791
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2470
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1543
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1455
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2356
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1170
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1173
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1355
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$2100
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$2015
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$620
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$797
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1082
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1062
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1340
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1218
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1193
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$494
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$965
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1059
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$821
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$497
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$778
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$917
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$521
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$526
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$505
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$454
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$457
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$485
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$471
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$530
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$514
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$558
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$700
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$559
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$459
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1628
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1247
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$469

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1387
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$342
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$291
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$261
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$243
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$260
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$268
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$372
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$329
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$278
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$582
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$683
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$335
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$597
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$479
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$467
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$381
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$477
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$259
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$342
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$315
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$290
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$313
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$418
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$312
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$538
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$330
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$274
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$297
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$332
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$283
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$379
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$522
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$265
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$507
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$294
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$303
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$318
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$322