Al Ain vs Muscat - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Al Ain	Muscat
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1844	$1090
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5338	$2569
🏠 One person rent	$1325	$541
🏘️ Family rent	$3717	$966
🍽️ Food expenses	$349	$334
🚐 Transport expenses	$57.1	$114
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3607	$1772
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	31 km
🎓 Higher education	38	43
😀 Quality of life	75	70
🏙️ Population	767K	1.42M

The cost of living in Al Ain is 69% more expensive than in Muscat. Cities ranked 2271st and 4892nd ($1844 vs $1090) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Oman comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Al Ain compared to 1.6 months in Muscat. Al Ain ranked 5th best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Muscat ranked 1st in Oman, while ranked 1000th and 2404th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Al Ain vs Muscat infographic

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

Prices in Al Ain vs Muscat

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

	Al Ain	Muscat
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.12	$5.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.4	$25.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.64	$7.86
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.46	$13
☕ Cappuccino	$5.02	$4.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$1.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$668	$581
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1309	$362
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4401	$1144
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3318	$713
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.3	$63.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$95.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$76.1	$71.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.33%	5.06%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2055	$1690
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1218	$1296
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.85	$1.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.2	$61.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.44	$9.37
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$0.62
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$1.77
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.05	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.78
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.72	$2.44
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$4.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.08	$5.37
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.86	$9.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$2.58
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.76
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.83
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.18
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$0.95
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.41	$0.97
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.36	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$2.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.8	$18.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.67	$4.37
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.16	$6.24
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.19	$5.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.1	$5.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.48	$2.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.15	$5
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.1	$48.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.4	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$64.6	$37.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.42	$8.76
👖 Brand Jeans	$32.4	$55.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.2	$85.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$640	$198
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3802	$10296

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Al Ain

Distance	City	Cost of living
119 km or 74 mi	Fujairah	$1239
126 km or 78 mi	Dubai	$2379
133 km or 82 mi	Sharjah	$1494
135 km or 84 mi	Ajman	$2240
143 km or 89 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
152 km or 94 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
192 km or 119 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
221 km or 138 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
231 km or 143 mi	Nizwa	$780
253 km or 157 mi	Seeb	$967
297 km or 184 mi	Muscat	$1090
337 km or 209 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
442 km or 275 mi	Doha	$1779
458 km or 284 mi	Al Khor	$1709
507 km or 315 mi	Chabahar	$585
525 km or 326 mi	Jahrom	$547
535 km or 333 mi	Jiroft	$518
564 km or 351 mi	Riffa	$1223
565 km or 351 mi	Manama	$1280
566 km or 352 mi	Fasa	$548
567 km or 352 mi	Isa Town	$1243
583 km or 362 mi	Sirjan	$514
596 km or 371 mi	Iranshahr	$605
604 km or 375 mi	Bam	$515
607 km or 377 mi	Dhahran	$1068
619 km or 385 mi	Dammam	$1056
629 km or 391 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
649 km or 404 mi	Qatif	$897
679 km or 422 mi	Shiraz	$589
684 km or 425 mi	Jubail	$901
688 km or 428 mi	Kerman	$464
689 km or 428 mi	Rafsanjan	$507
694 km or 431 mi	Marvdasht	$563
720 km or 447 mi	Bushehr	$551
720 km or 447 mi	Borazjan	$546
726 km or 451 mi	Kazerun	$557
776 km or 482 mi	Zahedan	$829
818 km or 508 mi	Salalah	$809
827 km or 514 mi	Yasuj	$529
866 km or 538 mi	Yazd	$573

Cities near Muscat

Distance	City	Cost of living
44 km or 27 mi	Seeb	$967
132 km or 82 mi	Nizwa	$780
277 km or 172 mi	Chabahar	$585
284 km or 177 mi	Fujairah	$1239
297 km or 184 mi	Al Ain	$1844
356 km or 221 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
372 km or 231 mi	Ajman	$2240
375 km or 233 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
377 km or 235 mi	Sharjah	$1494
380 km or 236 mi	Dubai	$2379
439 km or 273 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
451 km or 280 mi	Iranshahr	$605
463 km or 288 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
503 km or 313 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
569 km or 354 mi	Jiroft	$518
611 km or 380 mi	Bam	$515
691 km or 429 mi	Zahedan	$829
711 km or 442 mi	Sirjan	$514
739 km or 459 mi	Doha	$1779
740 km or 460 mi	Jahrom	$547
752 km or 467 mi	Al Khor	$1709
757 km or 470 mi	Kerman	$464
770 km or 479 mi	Fasa	$548
797 km or 495 mi	Rafsanjan	$507
858 km or 533 mi	Riffa	$1223
858 km or 533 mi	Manama	$1280
860 km or 534 mi	Isa Town	$1243
865 km or 537 mi	Karachi	$442
870 km or 541 mi	Salalah	$809
873 km or 543 mi	Zabol	$552
898 km or 558 mi	Shiraz	$589
901 km or 560 mi	Dhahran	$1068
902 km or 561 mi	Marvdasht	$563
911 km or 566 mi	Dammam	$1056
926 km or 575 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
938 km or 583 mi	Qatif	$897
960 km or 596 mi	Kazerun	$557
966 km or 600 mi	Borazjan	$546
973 km or 604 mi	Jubail	$901
976 km or 606 mi	Bushehr	$551