Abu Dhabi vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2070	$2317
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4485	$5372
🏠 One person rent	$1417	$1430
🏘️ Family rent	$2400	$2327
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$612
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.3	$90.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2675	$4411
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	51	82
😀 Quality of life	85	89
🏙️ Population	1.57M	468K

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 11% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 1859th and 1246th ($2070 vs $2317) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1054th 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 1.3 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Raleigh ranked 64th in the United States, while ranked 447th and 245th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Raleigh

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

	Abu Dhabi	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.29	$18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.6	$72.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.56	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$5.67
☕ Cappuccino	$5.55	$6.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.15	$2.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1520	$1562
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1151	$1149
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2679	$2603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2026	$1919
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.7	$133
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$97.1	$65.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.26%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4936	$3603
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10145	$2208
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$1.68
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.58	$16.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$0.97
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.62	$3.39
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.78
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.36	$4.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$14.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$10.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$5.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$4.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$5.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$2.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$1.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.45	$2.63
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.38	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.2	$8.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.82	$10.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$4.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.75	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5	$2.73
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.9	$44.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79.6	$137
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.9	$54.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.2	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$649	$1374
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13889	$24650

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	$1710
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2420
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1473
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1457
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2183
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1148
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1214
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1373
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$2014
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1923
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$635
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$796
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1080
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1109
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1309
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1192
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1135
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$545
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$931
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1037
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$793
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$541
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$823
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$928
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$545
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$575
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$565
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$465
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$489
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$547
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$523
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$575
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$563
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$613
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$761
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$627
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$487
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1632
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1281
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$492

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2246
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2470
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1831
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2194
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2278
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2313
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2242
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2109
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2308
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2111
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1943
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2003
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1780
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1773
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2123
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2159
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2081
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1750
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2036
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2056
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2088
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2057
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1917
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2030
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2202
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1987
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2079
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2122
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2001
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1847
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2080
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2027
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1814
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1963
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1969
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2211
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2378
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2126
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2174
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1736