Abu Dhabi vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2133	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4670	$5273
🏠 One person rent	$1489	$1374
🏘️ Family rent	$2612	$2201
🍽️ Food expenses	$432	$624
🚐 Transport expenses	$73.8	$89.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2773	$4362
😷 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 6% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 1650th and 1363rd ($2133 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1143rd 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 54th in the United States, while ranked 424th and 219th 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 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	$8.11	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.9	$69.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.9	$5.64
☕ Cappuccino	$5.69	$6.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1728	$1531
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1197	$1084
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3067	$2619
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2202	$1754
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97	$138
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$211
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$88	$63.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.64%	6.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4681	$3898
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8556	$2197
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$1.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.6	$47.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.63	$16.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$0.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.87	$0.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$3.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$2.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.17	$4.61
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$14.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.69	$10.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$17.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$5.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.95	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$4.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$3.01
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$3.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.48	$2.65
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.55	$9.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.49	$12.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$4.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.56	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.22	$2.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.8	$42.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.9	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.3	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$63.1	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$628	$1475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14421	$24243

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 Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729