Abu Dhabi vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1828	$2194
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4703	$5150
🏠 One person rent	$1173	$1216
🏘️ Family rent	$2618	$1971
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$541
🚐 Transport expenses	$70.6	$296
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3781	$3902
😷 Air quality	Bad	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	53	100
😀 Quality of life	83	100
🏙️ Population	1.48M	5.03M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 17% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 2320th and 1365th ($1828 vs $2194) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 4th in the United Arab Emirates and Australia, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 438th and 1st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Melbourne infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/abu-dhabi/melbourne.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Melbourne infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/abu-dhabi/melbourne" target="_blank">Abu Dhabi vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Melbourne

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

	Abu Dhabi	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.6	$14.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68	$67.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.61	$9.78
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$8.09
☕ Cappuccino	$5.72	$3.38
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$2.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1236	$1287
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$918	$1014
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2996	$2611
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2225	$1561
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.9	$98.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$135	$150
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$104	$49.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.24%	6.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5750	$6900
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4816	$5335
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$3.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.2	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.53	$15.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.39
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.12	$4.68
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$9.78
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.87	$9.79
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$14.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$3.2
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$3.93
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$2.47
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.66	$2.59
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.23	$4.57
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.27	$29
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.54	$5.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.98	$7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$3.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.88	$3.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65.3	$47.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$89.9	$52.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.7	$22.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.9	$70.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.2	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$641	$1683
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12452	$19705

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	$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 Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1620
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1625
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1645
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1691
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1668
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1671
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1643
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1654
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$1981
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1390
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1291
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1727
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1601
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1631
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1701
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1768
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1619
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1651
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2023
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1691
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1616
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2106
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1511
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1538
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1416
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$1978
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1584
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1702
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2252
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$1824
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2539
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2099
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1448
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$1795
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1185
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963