Abu Dhabi vs Riyadh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Riyadh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1942	$1627
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4262	$3576
🏠 One person rent	$1271	$931
🏘️ Family rent	$2152	$1463
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$375
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.2	$184
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3050	$2496
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	21 km
🎓 Higher education	53	73
😀 Quality of life	85	80
🏙️ Population	1.57M	7.01M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 19% more expensive than in Riyadh. Cities ranked 2187th and 3418th ($1942 vs $1627) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd 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 1.6 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 1.5 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 443rd and 759th 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 Riyadh 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/riyadh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Riyadh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/abu-dhabi/riyadh" target="_blank">Abu Dhabi vs Riyadh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$10.9	$7.98
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.6	$53.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.53	$8.06
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.7	$1.86
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$4.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.34	$0.78
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1358	$1007
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1002	$738
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2476	$1807
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1762	$1160
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.6	$64.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$99.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$102	$74.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.01%	5.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5485	$2939
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12028	$2197
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$1.07
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$37.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.63	$18.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$0.62
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.6
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$1.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$2.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.63	$2.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$8.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.07	$10.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$14.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$2.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.66
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.53
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.27
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$2.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$9.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.54	$1.75
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.29	$7.34
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.83	$2.73
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$4.67
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.73	$2.36
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.92	$5.22
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.4	$101
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.5	$51.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$7.99
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.4	$58.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.3	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$598	$451
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12663	$9818

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 Riyadh

Distance	City	Cost of living
310 km or 193 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$806
316 km or 196 mi	Unaizah	$967
350 km or 217 mi	Ar Rass	$862
389 km or 242 mi	Dhahran	$908
394 km or 245 mi	Dammam	$1008
395 km or 245 mi	Jubail	$930
417 km or 259 mi	Qatif	$873
420 km or 261 mi	Riffa	$1201
421 km or 262 mi	Isa Town	$1230
426 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1237
460 km or 286 mi	Al Wafrah	$1283
480 km or 298 mi	As Sulayyil	$1008
491 km or 305 mi	Doha	$1849
496 km or 308 mi	Al Khor	$1770
540 km or 336 mi	Kuwait City	$1454
595 km or 369 mi	Ha'il	$825
611 km or 379 mi	Umm Qasr	$726
618 km or 384 mi	Al-Faw	$730
631 km or 392 mi	Bushehr	$453
646 km or 401 mi	Az Zubayr	$719
652 km or 405 mi	Abadan	$549
658 km or 409 mi	Basra	$889
659 km or 410 mi	Khorramshahr	$542
668 km or 415 mi	Bisha	$918
680 km or 423 mi	Borazjan	$477
701 km or 436 mi	Bandar-e Mahshahr	$521
713 km or 443 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1730
714 km or 443 mi	Nasiriyah	$669
719 km or 447 mi	Medina	$1182
737 km or 458 mi	Kazerun	$503
747 km or 464 mi	Behbahan	$483
754 km or 469 mi	Samawah	$583
766 km or 476 mi	Ahvaz	$571
775 km or 481 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1942
790 km or 491 mi	Mecca	$1162
798 km or 496 mi	Shiraz	$553
800 km or 497 mi	Amarah	$681
804 km or 499 mi	Bareq	$903
804 km or 500 mi	Jahrom	$530
823 km or 511 mi	Yasuj	$463