Al Ain vs Riyadh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Al Ain	Riyadh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1844	$1637
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5338	$3629
🏠 One person rent	$1325	$944
🏘️ Family rent	$3717	$1530
🍽️ Food expenses	$349	$375
🚐 Transport expenses	$57.1	$183
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3607	$2731
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	38	72
😀 Quality of life	75	78
🏙️ Population	767K	7.01M

The cost of living in Al Ain is 13% more expensive than in Riyadh. Cities ranked 2271st and 2911th ($1844 vs $1637) 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 2 months in Al Ain compared to 1.7 months in Riyadh. Al Ain ranked 5th best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Riyadh ranked 1st in Saudi Arabia, while ranked 1000th and 733rd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Al Ain vs Riyadh infographic

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

Prices in Al Ain vs Riyadh

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

	Al Ain	Riyadh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.12	$9.31
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.4	$53.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.64	$8.02
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.46	$1.88
☕ Cappuccino	$5.02	$4.16
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$0.76
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$668	$1001
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1309	$748
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4401	$2174
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3318	$1140
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.3	$69.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$107
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$76.1	$75.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.33%	5.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2055	$2485
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1218	$1703
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.85	$1.07
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.2	$37.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.44	$18.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$0.61
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$1.71
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.05	$1.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$2.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.72	$2.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.77	$8.14
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.08	$9.75
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.86	$13.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$2.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.7
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.86
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.41	$1.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.36	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.53	$2.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.8	$8.71
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.67	$1.72
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.16	$7.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.19	$2.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.1	$4.03
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.48	$2.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.15	$5.22
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.1	$102
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.4	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$64.6	$52.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.42	$7.23
👖 Brand Jeans	$32.4	$55.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.2	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$640	$404
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3802	$10598

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	$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 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