Abu Dhabi vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1942	$2327
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4262	$5471
🏠 One person rent	$1271	$1420
🏘️ Family rent	$2152	$2324
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$628
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.2	$88.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3050	$4437
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	53	82
😀 Quality of life	85	90
🏙️ Population	1.57M	468K

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 17% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 2187th and 1213th ($1942 vs $2327) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1060th 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 1.6 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 60th in the United States, while ranked 443rd and 212th 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 Raleigh 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/raleigh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Raleigh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/abu-dhabi/raleigh" target="_blank">Abu Dhabi vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$10.9	$18.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.6	$72.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.53	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.7	$5.91
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$5.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.34	$2.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1358	$1434
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1002	$1158
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2476	$2441
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1762	$1941
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.6	$140
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$217
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$102	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.01%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5485	$3119
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12028	$2477
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$51.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.63	$14.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$3.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$3.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.63	$4.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.07	$11.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$16.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$5.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$5.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$6.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$1.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$2.72
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.54	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.29	$7.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.83	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$4.25
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.73	$4.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.92	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.4	$41.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.5	$161
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.4	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.3	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$598	$1578
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12663	$24117

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	$1730
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2514
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1419
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1449
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2521
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1183
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1228
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1398
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$1849
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1770
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$632
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$792
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1078
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1201
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1237
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1230
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1081
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$530
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$908
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1008
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$806
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$529
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$873
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$930
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$534
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$568
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$553
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$453
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$477
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$530
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$503
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$573
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$557
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$604
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$761
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$624
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$463
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1627
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1283
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$483

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2582
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1818
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2225
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2338
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2387
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2331
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2219
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2319
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2171
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2105
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2071
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1926
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1812
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2312
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2124
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1757
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2065
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2112
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2176
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2076
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1993
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2070
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2152
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2154
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2156
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2079
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2054
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1893
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2094
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2107
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1734
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2102
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1983
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2231
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2395
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2160
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2228
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1766