Abu Dhabi vs Riyadh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Riyadh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1828	$1637
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4703	$3629
🏠 One person rent	$1173	$944
🏘️ Family rent	$2618	$1530
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$375
🚐 Transport expenses	$70.6	$183
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3781	$2731
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	53	72
😀 Quality of life	83	78
🏙️ Population	1.48M	7.01M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 12% more expensive than in Riyadh. Cities ranked 2320th and 2911th ($1828 vs $1637) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st 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 1.7 months in Riyadh. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Riyadh ranked 1st in Saudi Arabia, while ranked 438th and 733rd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Riyadh infographic

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Riyadh

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

	Abu Dhabi	Riyadh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.6	$9.31
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68	$53.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.61	$8.02
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$1.88
☕ Cappuccino	$5.72	$4.16
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$0.76
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1236	$1001
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$918	$748
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2996	$2174
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2225	$1140
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.9	$69.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$135	$107
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$104	$75.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.24%	5.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5750	$2485
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4816	$1703
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$1.07
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.2	$37.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.53	$18.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$0.61
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.71
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$1.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.12	$2.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$8.14
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.87	$9.75
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$13.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$2.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.7
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.86
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.66	$2.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$8.71
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.23	$1.72
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.27	$7.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.54	$2.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.98	$4.03
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$2.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.88	$5.22
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65.3	$102
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$89.9	$52.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.7	$7.23
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.9	$55.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.2	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$641	$404
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12452	$10598

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 Riyadh

Distance	City	Cost of living
310 km or 193 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
316 km or 196 mi	Unaizah	$969
350 km or 217 mi	Ar Rass	$861
389 km or 242 mi	Dhahran	$1068
394 km or 245 mi	Dammam	$1056
395 km or 245 mi	Jubail	$901
417 km or 259 mi	Qatif	$897
420 km or 261 mi	Riffa	$1223
421 km or 262 mi	Isa Town	$1243
426 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1280
460 km or 286 mi	Al Wafrah	$1210
480 km or 298 mi	As Sulayyil	$1041
491 km or 305 mi	Doha	$1779
496 km or 308 mi	Al Khor	$1709
540 km or 336 mi	Kuwait City	$1393
595 km or 369 mi	Ha'il	$846
611 km or 379 mi	Umm Qasr	$740
618 km or 384 mi	Al-Faw	$736
631 km or 392 mi	Bushehr	$551
646 km or 401 mi	Az Zubayr	$723
652 km or 405 mi	Abadan	$547
658 km or 409 mi	Basra	$904
659 km or 410 mi	Khorramshahr	$544
668 km or 415 mi	Bisha	$905
680 km or 423 mi	Borazjan	$546
701 km or 436 mi	Bandar-e Mahshahr	$548
713 km or 443 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
714 km or 443 mi	Nasiriyah	$672
719 km or 447 mi	Medina	$1215
737 km or 458 mi	Kazerun	$557
747 km or 464 mi	Behbahan	$536
754 km or 469 mi	Samawah	$582
766 km or 476 mi	Ahvaz	$597
775 km or 481 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
790 km or 491 mi	Mecca	$979
798 km or 496 mi	Shiraz	$589
800 km or 497 mi	Amarah	$683
804 km or 499 mi	Bareq	$902
804 km or 500 mi	Jahrom	$547
823 km or 511 mi	Yasuj	$529