Al Ain vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Al Ain	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1455	$1386
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3100	$3160
🏠 One person rent	$900	$775
🏘️ Family rent	$1375	$1348
🍽️ Food expenses	$384	$359
🚐 Transport expenses	$55.4	$139
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2995	$405
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	38	55
😀 Quality of life	82	58
🏙️ Population	767K	3.78M

The cost of living in Al Ain is 5% more expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 4139th and 4336th ($1455 vs $1386) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 3rd in the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Al Ain compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Al Ain ranked 5th best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Cape Town ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 562nd and 6134th among best cities to live in the world.

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/al-ain/cape-town.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Al Ain vs Cape Town infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/al-ain/cape-town" target="_blank">Al Ain vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Al Ain vs Cape Town

Prices for goods and services in Al Ain and Cape Town are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Al Ain	Cape Town
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.2	$48.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.25	$6.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.46	$3.03
☕ Cappuccino	$5.1	$2.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.77	$1.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$788	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$731	$591
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1377	$1671
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1126	$1075
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75.2	$72.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$112
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$82.9	$41.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.69%	11.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2377	$2325
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1204	$1508
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.67	$1.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$24.7	$37.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.34	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.74	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.36	$1.2
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.66	$2.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.4	$8.53
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.67	$6.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.18	$8.45
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$1.94
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$1.88
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.91	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.56
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.36	$0.78
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$1.77
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.8	$6.22
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.35	$1.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.53	$3.38
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.24	$6.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.09	$3.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.47	$2.41
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.14	$1.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.7	$49.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.3	$9.14
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$64	$37.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.46	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.5	$58.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.3	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$574	$272
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6415	$6197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Al Ain

Distance	City	Cost of living
119 km or 74 mi	Fujairah	$1173
126 km or 78 mi	Dubai	$2470
133 km or 82 mi	Sharjah	$1543
135 km or 84 mi	Ajman	$2356
143 km or 89 mi	Abu Dhabi	$2133
152 km or 94 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1170
192 km or 119 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1355
221 km or 138 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1791
231 km or 143 mi	Nizwa	$797
253 km or 157 mi	Seeb	$1082
297 km or 184 mi	Muscat	$1193
337 km or 209 mi	Bandar Abbas	$620
442 km or 275 mi	Doha	$2100
458 km or 284 mi	Al Khor	$2015
507 km or 315 mi	Chabahar	$530
525 km or 326 mi	Jahrom	$494
535 km or 333 mi	Jiroft	$526
564 km or 351 mi	Riffa	$1062
565 km or 351 mi	Manama	$1340
566 km or 352 mi	Fasa	$497
567 km or 352 mi	Isa Town	$1218
583 km or 362 mi	Sirjan	$521
596 km or 371 mi	Iranshahr	$559
604 km or 375 mi	Bam	$514
607 km or 377 mi	Dhahran	$965
619 km or 385 mi	Dammam	$1059
629 km or 391 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$821
649 km or 404 mi	Qatif	$778
679 km or 422 mi	Shiraz	$505
684 km or 425 mi	Jubail	$917
688 km or 428 mi	Kerman	$700
689 km or 428 mi	Rafsanjan	$558
694 km or 431 mi	Marvdasht	$485
720 km or 447 mi	Bushehr	$454
720 km or 447 mi	Borazjan	$457
726 km or 451 mi	Kazerun	$471
776 km or 482 mi	Zahedan	$717
818 km or 508 mi	Salalah	$816
827 km or 514 mi	Yasuj	$459
866 km or 538 mi	Yazd	$517

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1421
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$763
371 km or 231 mi	George	$877
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$968
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1020
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$796
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$863
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1033
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$904
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1390
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$773
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$611
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$660
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$953
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$811
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$991
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$872
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$903
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$945
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$691
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$691
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$742
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1031
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$994
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$723
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$663
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$912
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1040
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1104
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$938
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$998
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$893