Al Ain vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Al Ain	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1449	$3469
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3246	$7890
🏠 One person rent	$889	$2370
🏘️ Family rent	$1511	$4148
🍽️ Food expenses	$388	$726
🚐 Transport expenses	$58.3	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3712	$5254
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	38	86
😀 Quality of life	82	93
🏙️ Population	767K	1.39M

The cost of living in Al Ain is 58% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 4123rd and 43rd ($1449 vs $3469) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 33rd in the United Arab Emirates and the United States, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.6 months in Al Ain compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Al Ain ranked 5th best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs San Diego ranked 26th in the United States, while ranked 588th and 97th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Al Ain vs San Diego infographic

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Prices in Al Ain vs San Diego

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

	Al Ain	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.58	$21.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.5	$85.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.34	$15.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.42	$8.63
☕ Cappuccino	$5.14	$6.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.77	$3.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$791	$2499
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$706	$2053
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1459	$4569
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1265	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75.8	$156
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$90.3	$71
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.02%	6.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2045	$9580
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1226	$7151
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$24.6	$71
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.17	$19.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$1.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.4	$3.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$3.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.23	$6.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.3	$15.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.89	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.08	$20.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.41	$4.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$4.81
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$2.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$2.37
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$1.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.55	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.7	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.45	$2.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.58	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.23	$14.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.14	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.48	$5.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.15	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$51	$63.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.2	$17.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$63.5	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.38	$30.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.3	$60.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$72.8	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$602	$1745
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5433	$28967

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	$1228
126 km or 78 mi	Dubai	$2514
133 km or 82 mi	Sharjah	$1419
135 km or 84 mi	Ajman	$2521
143 km or 89 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1942
152 km or 94 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1183
192 km or 119 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1398
221 km or 138 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1730
231 km or 143 mi	Nizwa	$792
253 km or 157 mi	Seeb	$1078
297 km or 184 mi	Muscat	$1081
337 km or 209 mi	Bandar Abbas	$632
442 km or 275 mi	Doha	$1849
458 km or 284 mi	Al Khor	$1770
507 km or 315 mi	Chabahar	$573
525 km or 326 mi	Jahrom	$530
535 km or 333 mi	Jiroft	$568
564 km or 351 mi	Riffa	$1201
565 km or 351 mi	Manama	$1237
566 km or 352 mi	Fasa	$529
567 km or 352 mi	Isa Town	$1230
583 km or 362 mi	Sirjan	$534
596 km or 371 mi	Iranshahr	$624
604 km or 375 mi	Bam	$557
607 km or 377 mi	Dhahran	$908
619 km or 385 mi	Dammam	$1008
629 km or 391 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$806
649 km or 404 mi	Qatif	$873
679 km or 422 mi	Shiraz	$553
684 km or 425 mi	Jubail	$930
688 km or 428 mi	Kerman	$761
689 km or 428 mi	Rafsanjan	$604
694 km or 431 mi	Marvdasht	$530
720 km or 447 mi	Bushehr	$453
720 km or 447 mi	Borazjan	$477
726 km or 451 mi	Kazerun	$503
776 km or 482 mi	Zahedan	$808
818 km or 508 mi	Salalah	$817
827 km or 514 mi	Yasuj	$463
866 km or 538 mi	Yazd	$545

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3195
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3013
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2932
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2972
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2943
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2996
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$2988
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1210
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2887
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2922
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3066
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1063
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1055
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3215
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2931
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3252
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2930
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3274
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2873
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2681
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2967
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3049
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2994
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2715
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3057
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2776
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3490
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3075
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2626
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$903
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2671
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3585
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3037
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$3014
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3450
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2539
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2742
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2691
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2782