Abu Dhabi vs Medina - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Medina
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1828	$1215
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4703	$2317
🏠 One person rent	$1173	$696
🏘️ Family rent	$2618	$765
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$319
🚐 Transport expenses	$70.6	$111
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3781	$1546
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	53	20
😀 Quality of life	83	66
🏙️ Population	1.48M	1.41M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 50% more expensive than in Medina. Cities ranked 2320th and 4439th ($1828 vs $1215) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 2nd in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Saudi Arabia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 1.3 months in Medina. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Medina ranked 4th in Saudi Arabia, while ranked 438th and 3899th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Medina infographic

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Medina

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

	Abu Dhabi	Medina
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.6	$5.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68	$37.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.61	$9.01
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$1.46
☕ Cappuccino	$5.72	$2.76
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$0.75
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1236	$338
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$918	$503
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2996	$715
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2225	$413
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.9	$124
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$135	$189
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$104	$102
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.24%	3.02%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5750	$3743
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4816	$1120
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$1.07
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.2	$37.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.53	$14.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$0.62
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.48
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.12	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$6.63
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.87	$6.81
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$12.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$2.4
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$2.13
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.18
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.68
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.66	$1.85
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$1.34
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.23	$1.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.27	$7.48
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.54	$5.25
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.98	$3.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$1.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.88	$3.18
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65.3	$75.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$13.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$89.9	$26.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.7	$2.77
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.9	$37.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.2	$66.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$641	$290
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12452	$7421

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abu Dhabi

Distance	City	Cost of living
117 km or 73 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2379
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1494
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1844
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2240
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1239
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$1779
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1709
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$780
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$967
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1223
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1280
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1243
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1090
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$547
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$1068
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1056
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$548
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$897
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$901
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$514
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$518
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$589
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$551
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$546
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$563
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$557
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$585
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$515
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$507
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$464
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$605
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$529
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1637
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1210
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$536

Cities near Medina

Distance	City	Cost of living
168 km or 104 mi	Yanbu	$829
328 km or 204 mi	Jeddah	$1146
339 km or 211 mi	Mecca	$979
378 km or 235 mi	Al Wajh	$961
398 km or 247 mi	Ha'il	$846
422 km or 262 mi	Ar Rass	$861
477 km or 296 mi	Unaizah	$969
531 km or 330 mi	Tabuk	$1078
585 km or 363 mi	Bisha	$905
593 km or 368 mi	Port Sudan	$1003
595 km or 370 mi	Dumat al-Jandal	$798
615 km or 382 mi	Sakakah	$781
650 km or 404 mi	Sharm El Sheikh	$464
657 km or 408 mi	Hurghada	$342
661 km or 411 mi	Bareq	$902
675 km or 419 mi	El Gouna	$336
676 km or 420 mi	Dahab	$381
680 km or 423 mi	Aswan	$329
714 km or 444 mi	Luxor	$335
717 km or 446 mi	Qena	$362
719 km or 447 mi	Riyadh	$1637
723 km or 449 mi	Aqaba	$809
729 km or 453 mi	Eilat	$1577
742 km or 461 mi	Ma'an	$793
757 km or 470 mi	Abha	$910
758 km or 471 mi	As Sulayyil	$1041
810 km or 503 mi	Tafilah	$646
827 km or 514 mi	Sohag	$360
839 km or 522 mi	Al-Karak	$710
861 km or 535 mi	Dimona	$1716
870 km or 540 mi	Arad	$1680
890 km or 553 mi	Beersheba	$1471
896 km or 557 mi	Asyut	$290
901 km or 560 mi	Hebron	$762
902 km or 561 mi	Dura	$813
902 km or 561 mi	Ofakim	$1684
905 km or 562 mi	Rahat	$1686
906 km or 563 mi	Amman	$994
907 km or 564 mi	Najran	$937
913 km or 567 mi	Bethlehem	$905